Prodigy II: Burgeoning Vexation
by Nyte Kat
Summary: Alliances sometimes shift soon after they are made. And change doesn't get easier no matter how accustomed one gets. The tenth grade presents new challenges for both Jake and his guardian Chance.
1. Chapter 1

**_I wanted to wait a little while before I started working on this, but the weather has a way of affecting everything we do. For instance, I woke up this morning to find that sometime between 0200 hrs and 0600, half a foot of snow was dumped on my lovely little southern town. As a result: work was canceled! That's right, kiddies; adults get snow days too. __After spending the better part of my morning between playing in the snow with my dogs and trekking around town with my camera (there is nothing more beautiful than Antebellum Era homes, railroad crossings, and old churches covered in snow, by the way), I've decided to get started on the second installment of my Prodigy series. Now, as I've said numerous times in the past, I don't own a cotton-pickin' thing. Enjoy.

* * *

_**

Chance was busy signing some important form or another when the noise associated with a missile lock warning began blaring loudly from Jake's pocket.

"Didn't I tell you to turn the volume down on that?" Chance scolded without looking up while several other annoyed eyes burned into the teen, who was currently trying to get it out of his pocket.

"I forgot." Jake quickly mashed a button to silence it before opening up the new text message he'd received.

"Donde esta la Mary Jane?"

Jake stared blankly at it in confusion before replying. "IDK what u jst said. Ask Spider-kat." Mere seconds after the response was sent he was rewarded with a generic polyphonic tone right in his ear. It wasn't often that anyone could sneak up on Jake, but he found himself trying to smooth down his suddenly standing fur as he turned to see who'd scared two of his lives right off him. "Jason?"

"What's up, kat?" Jason laughed, holding out his paw for their customer paw-slap-turned-shake.

Jake shook his head. It almost didn't look like his friend. "Your glasses are gone."

"Yeah. My grandmother let me get contacts."

"And you're taller than me." Jake pouted.

"It's okay." Jason patted him on the cheek. "We all know you're just a late bloomer."

"Screw you." Jake teased. In truth, he'd added a couple inches to his height somewhere over the summer, but nothing like his friend. "Did she not feed you? You look like a holocaust victim."

"That's not even funny, Jake." Chance scolded again without looking up from what he was doing.

"Yeah. No. It isn't." Jake made a face. "Where's your mom?"

"Over there doing this whole 'sending us back to the death camps' thing." Jason smirked, playing off of his friend's ill-placed joke.

This time, Chance turned and shot Jason a glare that would have made his mother proud.

"Wow. He's getting good at that." Jason whispered.

"He had a whole summer to practice." Jake added.

"JAKE!" A high pitched squeal came from somewhere in the line of parents and teenagers, and a small chubby she-kitten came running at him, full speed.

"Lucy!" Jake managed as she slammed into his leg and hugged him around the waist.

"You're gonna be in the 10th grade with my brother?" She asked, her black eyes wide as saucers.

"I am." Jake suppressed a grunt as he picked her up, still sore from a week of scrimmages and practicing. "And you're going to be..."

"I'm staring first grade." She held up one claw proudly. "Mommy says I have to ride the bus like Jason now."

"Lucy!" Ofelia scolded, her heels clicking against the tiled floor of the cafeteria where registration was being held. "I'm sorry, Jake. She just couldn't wait to see you. Where's..." She turned and smiled as Chance approached them. "Chance. How are you, dear?"

"Just fine, Ms. Felino." Chance smiled.

"It's Black. After everything that happened with their father..." The words dripped like acid. "I couldn't bear the association. How was your summer? Did Jake stay out of trouble?"

"Relatively." Chance smirked. "It was good. What about Jason?"

Ofelia laughed. "Well his grandmother said they were perfect angels, but I know she probably just let them do whatever they wanted for the last two and a half months."

"No doubt." Chance laughed and gave Jason a good looking-over. "Jeez, you did get skinny."

"You all act like I was the fat kid before." Jason glared.

"You were kind of fat." Lucy said seriously.

"Shut up." Jason hissed.

"Jason. Don't start. She's only six." Ofelia sighed. "We need to get going. It was good to see you two again."

Jake couldn't help the wince as he let Lucy down. Football practice was a drastic difference from his usual workout routine. Jujitsu against a practice dummy and sparring with Chance apparently didn't work as many muscles as he'd once thought. "What else do we have left to do?" Jake asked.

Chance held up the new schedule. "You need to go by your first semester classes and get your supply lists. And then probably figure out where your locker is so you'll already know ahead of time."

Jake took the schedule from Chance. "First I need to figure out where my English class is so I can turn in these essays and find out when I have that test." He frowned when he realized he didn't have Advanced English II until the second semester. For the first semester, he was starting his day with Advanced BiologyII, followed by Advanced Algebra I-II-combined, Honors Music, and, finally, German II. "Jeez," Jake groaned. "Algebra I-II combined? That's like two years of math crammed into one semester."

"Yeah but it's two years of math you've already learned. So it's probably a good thing." Chance pointed out.

"Right. Well, English is that way." Jake pointed. "So let's just get this turned in and then figure out what I need to get."

His eventual English teacher's name was Lyon. Jake rolled it around in his mind, trying to figure out how it was pronounced. He didn't want to offend her by calling her 'Mrs. Lion'. The door was open when he and Chance got there, with a note inviting students in. Jake was taken aback by the large, muscular tom with a bushy mane of a beard and golden fur.

"Good afternoon." He said in a deep growl of a voice as he stood up and walked towards them. Even Chance felt a little intimidated by the tom's stature. "I am Mr. Lyon." It was pronounced 'Lee Ohn'. "You're here to turn in your summer reading project, I presume."

"R-" Jake paused to clear his throat. "Right." He handed his perfectly prepared essays over to the teacher.

"Oh very nice." He purred, taking a moment to find the student's name. "Jacob Furlong." His bearded mouth curled up into a smile. "The Enforcer. Mrs. Klim and I had a lengthy discussion about you when I discovered you would be in my class next semester. I will be extra thorough in grading your work."

Jake was finding it hard to maintain a pleasant expression.

"When will I be required to take the..."

"The exam related to your summer reading?" Mr. Lyon interrupted. "First thing next semester. I hope you took notes. You won't be seeing these again until then."

"But I was under the impression that the test would be before the start of the new school year." Jake frowned.

"Some of the other.." Mr. Lyon chuckled and made air quotes as he spoke. " 'Advanced English' teachers feel that it's easier on the students to test them while it's still fresh in their minds." He shook his head. "My opinions differ. If you're in my Advanced English class, then I expect you to retain the knowledge indefinitely."

"Okay then." Jake cleared his throat. "I guess that's it. See you in January."

"I look forward to it." Mr. Lyon's smile was almost menacing.

"Jake," Chance said as soon as they were out of the room and out of ear shot. "I want you to know that I mean this wholeheartedly when I say 'sucks for you'."

Jake was visibly deflated. "That might be putting it mildly." He took a deep breath. "At least I have copies of my work. And I did take notes. So I should be okay. I can't help but feel like I'm being set up for failure, though." Jake pulled his schedule back out of his pocket. "Let's get these supply lists and pray the rest of my teachers this year aren't douche bags."

It turned out that most of the other teachers had simply decided to attach a folder to their doors with the supply lists inside instead of sticking around to meet their sophomore students. "Guess that's what Open House is for, huh?" Chance joked as he looked over the lists. "Don't you already have a graphing calculator?"

Jake laughed. "I _am_ a graphing calculator."

"No kidding." Chance chuckled.

"Yeah I have one... somewhere." Jake started for the exit.

"Wait we need to head by Matt's room."

"Matt?" Jake gave Chance a funny look. "Who's Matt?"

"Mr. Spieker." Chance corrected. "He sent out an email asking for his students to come by after registration."

"You get emails from my teachers?" Jake looked surprised.

"Duh." Chance rolled his eyes. "At least, I will. Your music director got my address at the end of the semester. And I will be getting them from your new teachers this year."  
"So, you're like the eye in the sky now, huh?" Jake pretended to be worried. "Alright well, orchestra room is that way." He pointed back behind him and did an about face that would have made a drill sergeant proud.

* * *

"Oh Jacob!" Mr. Spieker bellowed loudly from across the room, as he was sifting through scores of music on his podium. "So glad you're here. I was afraid Chance would have forgotten." He seemed anxious as he pulled out a folder of sheet music. "Oh no. That's not right. That's for my cellists. I guess it won't help you very much." He continued searching. "Did you have a good summer?"

"Well I..."

"That's great." Mr. Spieker stepped off his platform and hurried towards them. "Sorry, I've got so much sh..." He caught himself and cleared his throat. "Stuff going on right now. You wouldn't believe it. So hears the deal, and I really hope this doesn't stress you out because I'm counting on you for this." He gave Jake a thick folder of music. "The rest of my honors orchestra already has their parts. I need you to get started on this right away."

"What's it for?" Jake visibly winced at the amount of notes that seemed to be crammed together on the bars. "This looks... fun."

"Doesn't it?" Mr. Spieker seemed not to notice the sarcasm in his student's words. "There's an issue with funding for the arts department this year." His enthusiasm immediately evaporated. "So we have to prove we deserve it. At the end of September, we will be expected to perform for the district administrators and several other very important officials. And, well, the parents of course. Anyway," Mr. Spieker took a deep breath. "I know you've got a million things going on this year with football, and I know Miss Summers, your biology teacher, will load you down with a crazy report due every other week or so, but I need you to really get a head start on this."

Jake's eyes widened. "A report due every week? That's ridiculous."

"She's a little... eccentric." Mr. Spieker said, sympathetic. "But that's it. I don't want to hold you up any longer."

"Yeah." Jake looked down at the impressive score in his paws. "Thanks. I think."

"I think my stress level just quadrupled." Jake said as they left the building.

"I know, right?" Chance was surprised as well. "I didn't figure they'd drop all the really hard stuff on you until at least next year."

"I didn't think they'd drop the really hard stuff on me at all." Jake said in disbelief. "I mean, some of this is on par with the university. It's like they knew some genius would end up having to take these classes so they instituted some obscenely advanced program just in case."

"I doubt they went to all that trouble." Chance couldn't help but laugh at how over-dramatic the teen was being. "Lets hurry up and get this taken care of so we can get back home before Charlie destroys something." He held up the list of supplies.

* * *

"Ugh!" Jake proclaimed as his shoe slid in a pile of dog crap. "CHARLIE!" The growing dog ran into the kitchen and then skidded to a halt when she realized she'd been bad, ducking her head in shame. "Damn it!" He hopped on one foot to the sink, while carrying a couple bags of groceries and school supplies in each paw. Setting them down, he pulled off his sneaker.

"Whoa..." Chance jerked to a stop, seeing the mess on the floor. "You get this cleaned up and take her out. I'll get the rest of the stuff out of the car."

"Yeah." Jake sighed, rinsing the bottom of his shoe off in the sink. Then he grabbed the roll of paper towels.

"I thought I told you to take her out before we left." Chance shot his own glare at the sulking pup.

Jake grimaced. "I... was going to." He threw the soiled paper towels in the trash. "But then Blake called and I forgot. And then we had to leave."

"Uh huh." Chance hid his grin as he went back out the door. "Check the rest of the place to make sure she didn't mess anywhere else."

"On it." Jake replied. "You are a real pain in the tail sometimes." He pointed at Charlie. "We'll blame Blake for that one, though." He scanned the floor with his eyes as he walked through the small dwelling. "I don't understand you." Jake said, turning on the bathroom light. "You'll pee in the bathroom, but you take a dump right in front of the kitchen door." He tore off some more paper towels to mop up the second mess.

Chance had finished unloading the car when he passed Jake with Charlie on her leash. He gave him an odd look. "You aren't just going to let her run around out there?"

"Nah." Jake put his sneakers back on. "I kind of feel like going for a walk."

"Okay." Chance pulled a bottle of water out of the fridge and handed it to him. "Be careful. You know how kats like to speed around the curve."

Jake took the drink. "I will be." He opened the door. "See ya."

"Yep." Chance closed the door behind him and got to work putting the groceries away.

* * *

Charlie sniffed the motion sensor with her nose, which prompted the gate to slide open. She looked up at Jake with excitement as if to say "I opened the magic door!"

"Please don't do that when you're out here by yourself." Jake pleaded before letting her pull him outside the gates. With the leash coiled around his wrist, he slid the cold plastic bottle into his back pocket. "I think Chance is trying to drown me from the inside," he mused. In truth, it was still really hot outside, and he'd been sweating a lot more than usual because of the change in his workout routine. He knew his guardian was really trying to keep him hydrated. But sometimes, a boy just wanted a soda. Jake had to admit to himself, he was a lot more excited about playing football then he'd been originally. It was a bit overwhelming, though, to find he was the smallest tom on the field. He'd started using Chance's weights to try and bulk up his thin frame a little, but so far there weren't any results. Charlie tugged on the leash. "Am I going too slow for ya, girl?" Jake laughed as he was pulled from his wandering thoughts. "What do ya say to a little sprint?" He took off full speed. Charlie matched his pace, running beside him.

The chain-link fence surrounding the salvage yard extended nearly a mile in the direction Jake was going. He slowed his pace to a steady jog as he neared the curve in the road that Chance often swore about. Jake coiled Charlie's leash up a little more so that she was closer to him. The city really needed to post a speed limit sign in that part. But, technically, the salvage yard was just outside the city limit and the government didn't seem to care. They had bigger things to worry about than reckless drivers. He slowed to a walk as they neared the end of the long stretch of road that would split off in two directions. One heading out towards the desert, and the other took you north to the mountains. Back to Pawline Springs. Jake pulled the bottle out of his pocket and took a large gulp of water. A sharp pain clenched his side and he did a side bend to stretch out the cramp. Charlie cocked her head to the side with interest. "You thirsty?" He asked, crouching to pour some water. She eagerly lapped at the stream coming from the bottle as her master shared what remained of his drink. Jake patted her on the side before standing up and tucking the now empty bottle back into his back pocket. His cell phone started belting out an mp3 of a piano cover of one of his favorite rock songs, meaning he had an incoming call. "Yes mother?"

"Where are you? You've been gone for almost an hour and a half." Chance nagged worriedly in his ear.

"Coming back now." Jake moved further away from the road as he heard the loud rumbling of a truck engine nearing. It passed him going far faster than it should have, the driver laying on the horn.

"Are you in the road?" Chance asked.

"Hardly." Jake huffed. "Just some redneck jackass. I'll be home in about forty minutes."

"Just stay out of the road." Chance pleaded.

"I know." Jake huffed. "Bye." He ended the call. "Jeez. He gets worse by the day," he said out loud.

The sun had moved significantly closer to the horizon by the time Jake made it home. Chance was in the garage, tinkering with an old GTO someone had run into the ground. He unhooked Charlie's leash and she laid down on the cold poured concrete near an empty lift. Jake perched himself on a work bench. "Make any progress?"

"I wish." Chance grumbled, regretting making the once awesome sports car his new project. "What do you want for dinner?"

"Tacos." Jake said, seemingly at random.

"Tacos?" Chance repeated, humor in his tone. "Here or you want to go to Taco Hut and pick up some?"

Jake frowned. "I saw something on tv about someone getting salmonella from a Taco Hut."

"That answers that. So you're cooking, then?" Chance said with a grunt as he finally managed to loosen a troublesome bolt.

"Aw come on, Chance." Jake whined. "We might as well go out then. Either way, there's a risk of food poisoning."

"The only thing you have to cook is the hamburger meat, Jake. I'm pretty sure you can manage that without killing us both." Chance reached for a shop rag. He sighed when he found himself on the receiving end of the teen's best sulk. "C'mon, Jake. I'm getting really tired of cooking dinner. I hate cooking. I'm not even asking you to make something that requires a whole lot of effort. All you gotta do is follow the directions on the little seasoning packet thing."

"_Fine_." Jake whined, sliding off the work bench.

"Thank you." Chance offered as Jake trudged up the stairs.

"You can thank me after you don't die from my cooking." Jake replied before shutting the door the separated work from home.

* * *

Chance yawned loudly as he grabbed a coffee mug from the drying rack. Having preset the pot, the nice, hot brew was waiting for him... calling his name in the form of it's intoxicating aroma. He filled the cup a little more than half full and then dropped in two ice cubes so he could drink it right away, leaning against the counter while the first cup worked its magic. "That's more like it." Chance said quietly before going to wake Jake up. He eyed the lamp on in the far corner and the music spread across the keyboard. Jake's headphones still rested on the end of his bed, which he was sprawled across on his stomach... upside down; Charlie on her back with his arm across her lightly furred belly. "First day of school and he's already pulling all-nighters." Chance joked quietly before sitting heavily at the head of the bed and grabbing one of Jake's ankles. Startled, Jake rolled over, swinging his other foot in an attempt to free himself from his attacker. Chance smirked as he caught it with his other paw. "Good morning to you too."

"Crud, Chance." Jake groaned, flopping onto his back and pushing his paws into his eyes. "You scared the hell out of me."

"You want some of my coffee?" Chance chuckled. "You look like you're going to need it."

"I couldn't sleep." Jake explained, slowly getting up.

"You want me to make you some breakfast or are you good with cereal?" Chance asked as he stood up as well.

Jake stared at him as if he was speaking a foreign language.

"I'll make you some eggs." Chance decided. "Go take a shower."

The shower did wonders to pull Jake out of his early morning haze. And Chance's scrambled eggs with ketchup between two slices of toast could rival any breakfast sandwich from any restaurant... ever. It didn't hurt that he'd washed it down with a cup of something that was half coffee and half sugar and milk. Jake almost felt like he was ready to abandon sleeping in for another school year.

"You got everything?" Chance asked as Jake tossed his backpack and gym bag with the school's logo on it into the backseat.

"Yep." Jake said as Charlie decided to jump into his lap from between the seats. He let out a groan of displeasure. "Charlie..." he hissed. "Get back there." Jake pointed, dropping his pitch so she got the hint. There was a dull throb starting to form in the back of his head, and now one somewhere else. "Just what everyone needs to start their day," he thought. "I good kick in the balls."

* * *

"I'll see you after practice." Chance said with an encouraging smile.

"Yep." Jake slid on his backpack and then threw the strap to his gym bag over his shoulder.

"Have a good day." Chance called out as the back door slammed shut. Jake offered a sloppy salute in response as he walked away. "And it's just me and you, girl." He scratched her between the ears as she took over Jake's spot in the passenger seat. "Just me, you, and whatever old she-kat breaks down in the middle of nowhere."

* * *

"What's up, Furlong?" Fritz said a little too loudly, playfully slugging his teammate in the shoulder. "Ready for another gruesome practice after school?"

"Not if you keep beating me up first." Jake rubbed his shoulder. He spotted Jason talking to a slender brunette with her back to them. "I'll catch up with you later."

"Aw come on, Jake." Fritz huffed. "When are you going to ditch those dweebs and hang out with the cool kits?"

"Why can't I be friends with both?" Jake looked mildly offended.

"Because _they_ make you look bad." Fritz pointed.

"Yeah. Yeah." Jake rolled his eyes. "See ya." He waved at Jason as he neared and the she-kat turned around. "Miranda." Jake smiled at her. She'd slimmed up some too. "Lost some of that baby fat I see."

"Uh huh." She looked down her nose at him. "Someone had to grow up over the summer."

Jake scowled at her. "I'm getting really tired of the jokes, guys."

"Oh you can dish it out but you can't take it?" Miranda rolled her eyes. "But in all seriousness, you did grow, like what?" She grinned at Jason. "Half an inch over the summer? You're gonna have to do better than that if you want to trade us in for those jocks you're going to be hanging out with."

Jake felt his ears burn. "Right. So it's going to be like that? You know I don't really want to choose sides."

"Relax, Jake. She's just being a bitch. She got her period over the summer and now she thinks she a real she-kat." Jason remarked, earning a forceful shove from Miranda.

"That explains the boobs." Jake teased. "I mean, what a way to trade up. You went from mosquito bites to watermelons in a matter of months."

"You're both pigs." Miranda huffed and stalked off.

"Well the outside looks different." Jake quipped. "But it's still the same old Miranda on the inside, huh?"

"Yep." Jason sighed. "So you're really doing this football thing?"

"Yeah. It'll be fun." Jake shrugged. "You're gonna come to my games, right?"

"I dunno." Jason pulled a look of disgust. "I'm not really into sports."

"Come on." Jake pouted. "If you had a hobby, I'd totally support you in it."

"I do have a hobby. It's called not participating in school events because they're a bogus waste of my time." Jason huffed.

"Right." Jake sighed. "Hey I gotta go. I don't want to late on the first day."

"Yeah. Me too." Jason sounded insincere. "I'll.. well, maybe I'll have lunch with you. If not, see you in the halls."

"Yep." Jake took off towards the science wing.

There were a lot of familiar faces from his advanced classes the year before. And Jake was relieved that walking into the new class felt less tense. There were names written on post it notes stuck to each desk, but it seemed to be random. He found himself in the back corner near the window. "Great," Jake thought. "Put me somewhere I'll get distracted easily." He slid his gym bag behind his seat and hung his backpack on the chair before sitting down. The bell rang just a few seconds later and a tall, lanky she-kat with orange stripes and long stringy hair came into the classroom.

"Good morning students." She purred in a deceptively sultry voice that would lead one to think she was really beautiful instead of the stick thin geek she appeared. "I know you all enjoyed your summer, but it's time to hit the books and get serious. I'm Miss Summers. I will be your Advanced Biology Two teacher until January, and I expect every single one of you to live up to the high expectations I have made." Miss Summers looked around the room, her freakishly pale eyes settling on Jake. "Jacob Furlong." She smiled forcefully. "If you would be so kind as to distribute our text books." She pointed a long, sharp red-painted claw at a stack of thick books resting on a cart by her desk. "Hurry up. We don't have all day."

Jake quickly got out of his seat and went to the front of the room. He began handing out the books as she spoke.

"As you receive your books, please open to Chapter One so that we can begin our lesson." Miss. Summers hit the lights and then turned on the projector, which was pointed at the large dry-erase board. "To save some time, I've already prepared the first portion of your notes. I expect all of your notes to look exactly like mine, color coded as such."

Jake paused to look at the bored, his mouth open slightly in shock.

"Is there a problem with handing out the books, Jacob?"

Jake shook his head. "No ma'am." He made haste and hurried back to his seat, opening his own book, and pulling out a notebook so that he could catch up. So this was why her supply list included highlighters and a pack of multicolored pens. The headache he'd felt coming on in the car quickly spread to his temples.

"And one more thing." Miss Summers said, only a few minutes before the final bell. "These forms need to be signed by your parents." She handed a stack of papers to the first kit in each row to take one and pass back. "I've outlined the itinerary for this semester, along with a few basic demands I have of my students. The primary being that your parents sign your homework assignments each night, including tonight's. You will place them on my desk upon entering my classroom first thing and, at random, I will check your notes to see that you are complying with the format I have laid out."

Jake was still hurrying to scribble down notes when the bell rang. He muttered a soft curse as he finished up, scooped up his book and already heavy binder and then slipped on his backpack, doubling back to grab his football gear. By the time he made it to Algebra, he was winded and slightly shaky.

"Are the seats assigned?" He asked his teacher as he slipped in the door.

"Nope. Sit wherever ya want." Mr. Tottle gestured with an amused glint in his eyes. The bell rang before Jake could slide into the nearest empty desk. "I hope you're all prepared for an extremely fast paced lesson plan. You'll find your new text book, the required forms for your parents, and our lesson plan for the semester already laid out on your desks." He went to the board and uncapped a marker. "Please open your books, break out a fresh sheet of college ruled and a sharpened pencil."

Jake wondered if he'd have time to breathe at all between the starting bell and the final one. Already, his paw was beginning to cramp from excessive note taking, and his graphing calculator was already being put to use.

* * *

"That was good." Mr. Spieker looked immensely relieved that his honors students had truly practiced the pieces he'd handed out. "A little heavy there, Jake. There's no need to hammer out every single note."

"Sorry." Jake was having trouble focusing. The lights in the orchestra room seemed unnecessarily bright and the pounding between his ears was louder than the ticking on the metronome.

"Let's run through that one more time before we go to lunch. And then I'll decide if we should go with the morning rehearsals or not." Mr. Spieker lifted his baton and began counting softly with the ticking. "An one and two and three and four and one and two and..."

The bell signaling third, and final, lunch was like an ax through Jake's skull. He visibly winced and remained seated at the piano a little longer than he should have. Finally, when all the other students were gone, he approached his teacher. "Mr. Spieker..."

"Yes?" The teacher seemed much calmer than he had on registration day.

"I hate to ask you this." Jake looked hopeful. "You don't have any aspirin in your office do you?"

"You're supposed to go to the nurse for that sort of thing." The teacher looked nervous. "But, yeah, just don't tell any of the other students you got it from me."

"You're my new best friend." Jake smiled gratefully.

By the time he got to the cafeteria, Jake had missed any chance of getting through the line early. As he took his place in the queue, he looked around for any sign of anyone who knew. No Jason. No Miranda. No...

"HEY! What's that kindergartner doing in the lunch line?"

Jake glared at Fritz.

"Hey Furlong! When you get your food, come sit over here!" Todd Longclaw was the junior varsity quarterback. Everyone called him TL. Somehow, Jake just knew that lunch was going to be the highlight of his school day. Well, that or football practice. It depended on which one got him less bruises.

"What's good, small fry?" TL teased when Jake sat down.

"Not a whole lot." Jake could already feel the pain subsiding. "What I wouldn't give to be just average intelligence like you two."

"No kidding?" TL took no insult from the barb. "I heard the honors teachers _suck_."

"You have no idea." Jake dredged his chicken nuggets through his instant mashed potatoes and then dunked them in his barbecue sauce. "So far, I've wished LaCroix was there to tackle me and get me out of this mess about thirty times."

Both Fritz and TL shared the same astonished and amused expression. "That bad?" Fritz asked. Jeremy LaCroix was one of the biggest players on the JV team.

"I have to write some of my notes for Advanced Bio Two in pink and purple." Jake glared, earning snorts of laughter. "And my notes are graded. So there's no 'oh sorry Miss Summers, I was all out of pink ink.'" He leaned heavily on his arm. "So, what's it like being normal?"

"Are you kidding me?" TL laughed loudly. "I haven't even started any assignments. We played this 'get to know your classmates' game. And Mrs. MacFurly gave us candy."

Jake's jaw hung open in astonished envy. "Candy? For what? Telling the other students your name?"

"Yep." TL polished off the rest of his food.

"Same here." Fritz said. "We're in two of the same classes."

"I hate both of you so much right now." Jake sulked. "I already have hours of homework from just two classes. And I'm looking at having to be here by seven now for rehearsal."

"Wait." Fritz choked on his milk. "Rehearsal? For what?"

"Um..." Jake blushed. "Nothing?"

"No really, Furlong. What is it? Drama? Dance? I can see you wearing tights." TL teased.

"Hell no." Jake huffed. "I play the piano," he mumbled.

"The piano?" Fritz sucked on his teeth. "Dude. That's nothing. Hey, you better not break a finger out there. You'll be screwed on two counts if you do."

Lunch ended, as did third period and German crawled by. It was Frau Shuman again, and Jake wondered if there was any other German teacher at the school, as his classmates were pretty much the same. Finally, the last bell rang, and Jake escaped at least one class without having something to add to his after school workload.

"Hey Jake!" Jason caught up with his friend in the hall. "So you off to wait for Chance?"

"Not today." Jake pointed towards the gym. "I have to change and get out to the field."

"Oh." Jason rolled his eyes. "That's right. You're one of them now."

"I'm not one of anything, Jason." Jake couldn't understand his friend's issue. "It's just fun. You could come watch if you wanted. I'm sure your mom wouldn't mind. And Chance wouldn't have a problem taking you home."

"No thanks." Jason laughed as if the entire notion disgusted him. "I gotta catch the bus and get home to watch Lucy."

"Your mom isn't picking you up anymore?"

Jason shook his head. "Nah. She's... she's got a lot going on. I'll see you tomorrow. Maybe. If you aren't too busy."

"Yeah. Sure." Jake felt a real pang of disappointment as Jason went the other way.

* * *

"Jesus effing Christ, Longclaw! If someone's open, throw the damn ball!" Coach Simmons shouted loudly at the quarterback after blowing his whistle. "What the hell are you waiting for?"

"I just don't think I should be throwing to Johnny if Furlong's on the field." TL argued. "He's a heck of a lot faster."

"You wanna call the plays?" Coach growled in his face.

"Can I?" TL's ears perked upwards.

"Sure! In about ten years, you come back here and get a job. Then you can have your QB throw the ball to whoever the hell you want! Until then, you do what I tell you to." Coach blew his whistle. "Run the play again."

Jake was so happy Chance hadn't showed up yet. He'd be humiliated for his friend to see how hesitant they were to involve him because of his size. As he got back in formation, TL caught his eye and then looked at Fritz with a smile. "Fuck the playbook." He whispered to his friend, who was playing on the 'opposing team' for practice. "We're going to show him what this kit can do. Have your kats go after Furlong instead. Box him in."

"What if he can't do it?" Fritz whispered.

"Then coach is right. We don't give him the ball. But I guarantee he's wrong." TL heard the whistle blow. He pulled the ball and jogged backwards. Some of the players moved in on him, trying to stop the pass.. and Fritz did just as his friend asked.

Jake looked back at TL. What the hell was he doing? Coach was going to be pissed!

"I hope your bones are made of rubber, Furlong." LaCroix laughed as he charged towards him.

Jake moved swiftly as he saw the ball in the air heading towards him. "Not today, big guy." He huffed, dodged the tackle, snatched the ball out of the air and went for the end zone, surprised at how hard he actually had to work to make it across the line. Still, he gave his best overconfident grin as the whistle was blown and he took in his winded teammates. "You guys could use some cardio." Jake joked as he walked back down the field. He patted LaCroix on the gut. "Or just lay off the snacks."

"Ha!" LaCroix bellowed loudly, giving the smaller teen a hefty shove and nearly knocking him over. "You wish you could grow up to have muscles like mine."

"Not if they're all in your stomach." Jake managed to remain upright.

"Kit's got jokes." LaCroix smirked as they reached the rest of the team, where Coach Simmons, with his clipboard tucked under his arm, was waiting to kick them all off the field and find a better team.

"You think that's funny?" He asked TL in a quiet, relatively calm voice.

"No. I thought it was the better play." TL argued. "Look, like it or not, he's got game. You think anyone else is gonna have someone as fast as him?"

"I know no one else has anyone as fast as Furlong." Simmons scowled. "But I've seen some of the teams you, as a collective, will be up against this year, and they easily have you in size. They see Furlong out there, and they're gonna do whatever it takes to crush him and get him off the field. Because they know, if he has the ball, they can't catch him. I'm not worried about Furlong." He looked around, spotting a couple parents waiting in the stands, and a burly tabby leaning against the fence. "When it's crunch time, and I mean that literally, Furlong, because that's what they're gonna wanna do to you... when the other team is sending their biggest players after him, is he gonna have backup?"

"Trust me." LaCroix made a gesture that seemed to include himself and three other larger players. "Furlong can consider us his personal bodyguards."

"Good." Coach nodded his head. His watch beeped. "That's it. Hit the showers. See you tomorrow."

* * *

"Furlong!"

Jake moved defensively, expecting to be snapped with a towel or something. "What?" He saw Fritz and TL by his gym bag.

"What is up with this girly-ass hair brush?" TL held up the thick bristled brush.

Jake snatched it out of his paws. "Look, we can't all be blessed with short fur, okay?"

"No kidding." Fritz pulled a face as he grabbed a clump of Jake's still damp, reddish-brown fur and pulled it hard.

"Ow!" Jake jerked away.

Fritz and TL started laughing. "Sorry ma'am."

"Fuck you." Jake couldn't keep the laughter out of his voice. "You wish you had fur like mine. The she-kats love it."

"What she-kats?" Fritz snorted.

"My girlfriend last year couldn't keep her paws out of it." Jake lied, sliding on his shorts before dropping his towel.

"Yeah. Whatever." TL rolled his eyes. "I'll see you kats tomorrow." He shouldered his bag and left the locker room.

Jake finished getting dressed after running his brush through his thick fur. Then he gathered his own things and headed out.

"So where were your other friends?" Fritz asked.

Jake frowned. "I asked Jason if he wanted to watch us practice and he acted like he'd get some sort of illness if he got anywhere near the football field."

"Dude, you don't need them." Fritz seemed genuinely peeved at the notion. "I heard that Jason kit got suspended for having drugs on him last year."

Jake winced. "Yeah."

"Look, any 'friends' that are too good to give a shit about something you like doing, probably aren't really friends at all." Fritz shoved his paws into his pockets.

"Wow Fritz." Jake put as much effort as he could into looking surprised. "That's really insightful for someone like you."

"Bite me." Fritz laughed. "I'm serious. Anytime you wanna chill, call me up. I mean, it's not like we probably won't be hanging out after every game anyway."

"Yeah." Jake nodded his head. "I'll give it some thought."

* * *

"So first day back.. is it safe to ask or should I keep my mouth shut and pretend like nothing happened?" Chance joked, taking the heavy gym bag from his exhausted-looking teenager.

"Actually," Jake couldn't help but smile at Charlie trying to squeeze her head out the barely open window to get to him. "It wasn't bad."

"Really?" Chance looked relieved. "Good. I was worried it was going to be like last year and we were back to this unspoken rule of not asking how school was."

"I don't know." Jake laughed. "We'll see how tomorrow is. As for the rest of today, isn't it illegal to issue two tons of homework on the first day of school?"

"I think so." Chance scratched his chin in thought.  
"Good. Maybe I can get Miss Summers arrested and I can have someone less obsessive and demanding for Biology." Jake rolled his eyes. "You, by the way, have almost as much homework as I do... except it's in the form of signing your name on a hundred different, yet really the same, forms."

"Greeaaaat." Chance groaned. "Well, at least you won't have any trouble sleeping tonight."

"No. And that's good. Because I have to be up an hour earlier."

"I'm going to need stronger coffee." Chance quipped as he drove away from the school.

* * *

**_*cracks knuckles* NK is back in business. =D_**


	2. Chapter 2

"As soon as we get this bird back in the air," Chance grumbled as he scrubbed sludge out of the intakes. "You're gonna spend more time flying."

"I didn't crash on purpose, Chance." Jake already felt bad about it. "I mean, jeez, you'd think you'd just be happy not to be a giant ugly frog anymore. It wouldn't hurt to show a little gratitude." He dropped his sponge into the bucket stopped his own cleaning abruptly as a sharp spasm of pain throbbed beneath his sternum.

"Trust me." Chance's tone softened to something more sympathetic. "I am grateful for a lot more than just not being a frog. Sorry about the bruises, but it's better than the alternative."

"No kidding." Jake smiled wanly. "What a way to spend a Saturday, though."

"You ain't lying." Chance laughed. "I gotta tell ya, Dr. Viper puts more than half the science fiction we watch to shame."

Jake, who'd resumed his cleaning, looked up suddenly, green eyes wide with panic.

"What?" Chance looked around. "What's wrong?"

"I just remembered that I have a stupid report due for Biology on Monday." The teen turned around to look at the old clock on the concrete wall. "So much for our usual Sunday movie marathon."

"Since when do you wait until the last minute to do that kind of thing?" Chance asked. "And school's only been in session for a week."

"Since I got the assignment on Friday." Jake replied. "And Miss Summers is a psycho."

"She's not that bad." Chance frowned, sliding off the Turbokat and landing quietly on the cold floor. "It's supposed to rain. You should let Charlie out before it does or this isn't the only thing you're washing tonight." He said as he headed for the stairs.

"You mean 'we'..." Jake huffed.

"I didn't crash it." Chance said in a sing-song voice as he left.

"And I almost died." Jake said out loud, but Chance had already gone. He looked over at Charlie, who was licking herself over near a work station he'd dubbed 'R&D'. "You wanna go outside?"

Charlie ran full speed towards the concrete stairs.

"Yeah okay. I'm coming." Jake slid down. "But you're just going to have to run around the salvage yard."

* * *

"I don't understand why I have to keep buying these for you." Fritz handed Jake the large can of energy drink.

Jake pulled two bills out of his pocket and made the trade. "Because Chance is acting all crazy." He pulled the tab popping open the tart citrusy drink and took a long sip. "I keep getting these massive brain melting headaches and he got all worried and now thinks I'm drinking too much caffeine."

"Maybe you are." Fritz eyed the 32 oz can with disgust.

"That's preposterous." Jake huffed after another drink. "Caffeine is one of the primary ingredients in aspirin. And it's the only thing getting me through my massive homework load, rehearsal, and practice. I mean do you really think I'm getting more than four hours of sleep at night? I'm writing my Biology notes twice because she goes too fast for me to color code it the way she wants it."

Fritz dramatically took a step back. "Okay. Okay. No one comes between you and the energy drink. Sheesh. Just make sure you get rid of the evidence. I don't want anyone finding out that I'm your supplier."

Jake chugged the remaining drink and tossed the can into a waste bin. "Evidence discarded. See you at practice?"

"Are you kidding? The field is a mess from the rain and whatever that nut-job mutant lizard thing did to the city." Fritz pouted.

"Damn it." Jake groaned. "I didn't even think of that." He slid his phone out of his pocket to text Chance. The bell telling everyone to get to first period echoed throughout the school. "I'll see you at lunch."

* * *

"Everyone's chart should look exactly like mine." Miss Summers pointed at her chart, drawn out in purple marker. "As you go down, you will list the Superclass, followed by the class, then the order and so on until you reach Species and subspecies." She looked around the room, her eyes settling on the rapid bouncing of a students leg, and felt her ever present vertigo causing her equilibrium to begin to shift. "Jacob!" Miss Summers snapped loudly.

Jake whipped his head up from where he'd been writing. His teacher had a paw over her eyes and looked sort of sick.

"You need to stop that incessant movement." Miss Summers scolded, her voice raising in pitch. She turned her back to the students and focused on the board.

"Sorry." Jake shifted in his seat so that he could stretch and hoped it would settle his sudden restlessness.

"Now," Miss Summers uncapped her marker and drew a line. "On one side we will have vertebrates and the other invertebrates..."

"... and then you can use the Distributive property to simplify algebraic expressions." Mr. Tottle wrote out an equation on red marker. '7P + 3Q – 21P + 8Q' He turned back to the class. "And can I get a volunteer from the audience."

Jake raised his arm.

Mr. Tottle smirked. "Someone that couldn't teach this class... no offense, Jake."

Jake lowered his arm. And the teacher looked around. "How about you, Ashley? Can we do something other than use this class as nap time?" As the she-kat stood up and slowly made her way to the board, Jake raised his arm again.

"Aw at least give her a chance, Jake." Mr. Tottle joked.

"I was just.." He cleared his throat. "Can I be excused?"

The mostly effervescent math teacher grabbed the hall pass off his desk and tossed it to his student.

Jake couldn't contain the sigh of relief as he finished emptying his bladder. So far, that was the only disagreeable side effect he found from chugging an energy drink nearly every morning. In truth, he was getting another one of those fiendish headaches, but he blamed that entirely on not enough sleep before early morning rehearsal, followed by another high-paced note taking marathon. Jake turned to wash his paws and the door swung open.

"Well look what the kat dragged in." Jason joked. "Or out, I guess." He pulled a lighter out of his pocket. "You aren't going to rat me out are you?"

Jake locked eyes with his friend for a moment, finding them already bloodshot and glazed over. "Did you not get anything out of being suspended, Jason?"

"The hell I did." Jason laughed. "I got my ass beat with a stiletto." He put his foot on the edge of a urinal and pulled up his jeans so he could roll down his sock. "You wanna hit this?"

"I need to get back to class." Jake moved towards the door.

"So that's it?" Jason growled at him. "What happened over the summer, Jake? I thought we were friends."

"I thought we were too." Jake looked back up at Jason. "You know, you might have slimmed up and gained a foot on me, but that doesn't mean you grew up. If you wanna be my friend, then maybe you need to reconsider what's more important to you." With that, he pushed open the door and left.

* * *

"So of a bitch!" Chance shouted and pulled his paw back, glaring at the cut across the pad of his paw. He looked around for something clean to wrap around it and, when he came back, he saw, and heard, the deputy mayor's green car rolling into the salvage yard making the most awful grinding and screeching noises. Furrowing his brow as he wrapped a bandage around the now clean wound, he watched her get out of the car looking a bit more provocative than a she-kat of her caliber should during normal business hours. Callie'd abandoned her usual blazer and just wore a short sleeved lilac blouse with a plunging neckline and a black pencil skirt that seemed far shorter than usual. The spike on her matching black heels were thinner and taller.

"What did you do to it?" Chance asked. Several months ago, it would have been hard to focus. But she'd seemed to have lost some of her sparkle in his opinion, and now, all the tabby could think of was how glad he was that Jake was at school because it wouldn't do his teenage hormones any good to see her like this.

"_I_ didn't do anything." Callie huffed, her hips swaying a little more prominently with each step. "It got a little submerged when Dr. Viper decided to flood the city."

"And you drove it anyway?" Chance asked in disbelief.

"Well I had to." Callie put her paws on her hips. "I wasn't going to ride the bus to work."

"Why not?" Chance asked, amused.

"Like this?" Callie gestured. "Please. Can you take a look at it?"

"Yeah. I just need to finish this delivery van up first. Where's the mayor to take you back to work?" Chance looked for the black limo to turn into the parking lot.

"He's busy making appearances in the more heavily damaged parts of the city." Callie looked shy for a moment. "I was hoping, if you wouldn't mind, driving me back to City Hall."

Chance nodded his head. "I guess I can swing that. I just need to..." He felt his phone ringing in his pocket. "Let me answer this and finish up this truck and then I'll take you back to work." He flipped open the phone. "Hey beautiful."

Callie blinked in surprise and remained where she could hear one side of the conversation.

"Are you all set to leave Thursday morning?" Chance asked, his tone sounding more cheerful by the second. "No I haven't told Jake you're coming. I figured he'd just be surprised when he saw you at his game. Then I was thinking, maybe Friday the boys could crash at my mom's place and I could take you out on the town." He laughed at something she said. "Now I like the sound of that."

Callie blushed with embarrassment and quietly made her way to the waiting area. How could she have been so stupid? What was she thinking? That Chance would take one look at her and have his way with her right there on the hood of her car? She laughed sardonically at herself. Of course that's what she'd been thinking. "I'm such a fool," Callie mumbled, sinking back into the old couch, kicking off the heels she'd worn specifically for Chance.

Chance finished the tune up on the truck and grabbed his keys. "You ready to go? It's almost time for me to pick Jake up so I figured I'd drop you off and then go get him."

"I figured he'd have his license by now." Callie slid her feet back into her shoes.

"He's only 14." Chance laughed. "If you can get the law changed before his 16th birthday, we'd both be ecstatic." He locked up as they left and then opened the door to the SUV for her.

"What, no tow truck?" Callie asked, putting on her seat belt.

"I figured if you were dressed too nice for the bus, then you're definitely dressed too nice for that rust bucket." Chance started the car.

"Oh. Right." Callie cleared her throat. They lapsed into an awkward silence. Finally, as they neared City Hall, she broke it. "So I couldn't help but overhear you talking on the phone. New girlfriend?"

Chance looked at her with surprise. She sounded almost.. jealous? "Nah," he thought. "Yeah, uh... I met this she-kat over the summer. I don't know if I'd call her a girlfriend just yet but I think it's going that way."

"Well..." Callie bit her lip, unsure of what else to say. "What does Jake think of her?"

"I dunno." Chance realized he hadn't asked Jake his opinion. "But she's got a son his age and they hit it off right away. They're coming down to see Jake's first game."

"Down? From where?"

"Pawline Springs." Chance answered.

"She's driving all that way?" Callie looked out the window. "Sounds like a girlfriend to me."

Chance frowned. "Callie, am I doing something wrong here? I mean, I was under the impression that we broke it off."  
She didn't look back at Chance but he could see the muscles in her jaw twitch. "I guess we did."

Chance parked in front of City Hall. "I'll give you a call when your car is fixed."

"Thank you." Callie opened the door and got out. "Have a nice day." She managed not to slam it shut.

Chance winced. "Yeah. You too." He scrubbed a paw down his face. "Oh boy."

* * *

"Check this out." Fritz caught up with Jake as he was leaving the school. "TL just forwarded this to my phone." He thrust the touch screen in front of his friend and used his claw to tap 'play'.

"Is that a midget?" Jake asked, his face twisting in disgust.

"Yeah." Fritz said through his laughter. "Wait till you see what he does to this horse."

"What hor... oh that's disgusting!" Jake was torn between laughing and gagging.

"I'm so sending this to your phone." Fritz laughed.

"Please don't." Jake's nose wrinkled in disgust. "It's already permanently etched in my brain."

"Fiiiine." Fritz sighed. "Hey there's your ride. See you tomorrow."  
"Yeah. Hey don't forget about me when your dad stops for coffee." Jake pleaded.

"Jake." Fritz looked serious. "I think you have a problem."  
"I can stop anytime." Jake replied, straight-faced, before they both started laughing. "See ya."

Chance watched Jake get in the car. "You look wiped out." There were heavy bags under the teen's eyes and his usually well groomed fur was matted in places.

"You said something along the same lines this morning." Jake sulked. "But I actually have time to get my homework done at a reasonable hour since I don't have practice."

"Good. Then you can go to bed early." He turned his focus to the street.

"So how was work?" Jake asked, pulling his sunglasses out of the glove box, hoping to alleviate some of the pain caused by the afternoon sun.

"Slow. Callie came by to have her car fixed." Chance drummed his claws on the steering wheel. "And then Melissa called. Apparently Callie heard me talking to her and now she's all upset."

"Didn't you two break up?" Jake asked, letting his head thump against the headrest.

"That's what I thought." Chance huffed.

"Then she can just deal with it." Jake replied. "I mean, she's the one that was just too busy flirting with the Swat Kats to have a serious relationship."

"Yeah. You're right. And I really like Melissa." Chance looked thoughtful. "And you do to, right? I mean, if things go serious between us, you'd be fine with it?"

Jake leered at Chance from behind his sunglasses. "I don't care who you date, Chance. As long as I don't ever walk in on you and Melissa doing the horizontal tango like that one time with Callie, do whatever you want."

"The horizontal wha...?" Chance glared.

Jake simply smirked. His phone buzzed, still on vibrate from school, and he opened it. "AW! Fritz!"

"What?" Chance looked away from the road again.

"Nothing." Jake closed his phone. "Some stupid video that I'm going to delete and hope I never see again."

* * *

Chance splashed his face with cold water and looked at his reflection in the mirror. He shuddered as if he could see the terrible nightmare he'd had playing again in the glass. This was the third night in the row he'd dreamed of something awful happening to Jake. And each time, Chance had woken up with a gasp, his short blond and striped fur matted down from sweating and tossing and turning. The first two times, he'd quietly checked Jake's room, making sure the boy was safely sleeping in his bed and then gone back to sleep himself. This time, however, he'd been startled awake just moments before his alarm was set to go off. Determined to get the cruel images out of his mind, Chance left the bathroom and decided to make Jake breakfast, something hearty. After all, his first game was that evening. Chance found himself perking up as he thought about it. Not only was he excited about the game, but he was practically bursting at the seams to tell Jake that Blake would be there... and Melissa.

"Melissa," Chance purred as he pulled the pancake mix out of the cabinet. He was done frying up some bacon and had a small stack of pancakes and was about to scramble some eggs when he realized that Jake had yet to get up. He paused in his cooking to go see what the problem was.

Jake's alarm had gone off once, and he'd dropped a paw on it to stop it with the intention of getting up. Instead, however, he'd drifted back to sleep, his arm still reaching out towards his clock, paw still resting on top of it. And that's exactly how Chance found him.

"Come on, Jake." Chance sighed. Even Charlie was already up and outside. "You're going to be late for rehearsal."

"'S'not important," Jake mumbled into his pillow.

"Come on." Chance turned on the light as he walked in and then jerked the covers off.

"You're such a jerk!" Jake hissed, shooting his guardian a lethal glare.

"Yeah." Chance smirked. "That's why there's a huge stack of pancakes with your name on them."

"Alright." Jake whined. "Just give me a minute to get dressed."

Chance watched Jake wolf down his breakfast while he sipped his coffee. "You weren't hungry, were you?"

Jake paused, slowly chewed and then swallowed what he had in his mouth and chuckled. "Sorry." He managed to finish his breakfast at a less than breakneck speed and then put his plate in the sink. "Hey, are you okay?"  
Chance frowned. "Yeah. I'm fine."  
"You sure?" Jake refilled his glass with more juice. "Because you look like you're thinking about something really hard."

Chance made a quiet 'huh' sound and stood up. "Excited about your game?"

"Sure, I guess." Jake shoved his paws into his pockets. "Is Rita going to be there?"

"Yeah. Why? You don't want her to go?" Chance worried.

"No. I... I do... I just, you know, thought she might be busy." Jake looked away.

"Why would she be busy?" Chance asked.

"I dunno." Jake studied the floor. "I asked her if she was going to be there. And she was really cryptic and said 'we'll see'. And when I asked her what she meant, she just said that today was going to be a really busy day."

Chance fought hard to keep a straight face. "Trust me, Jake. Mom will never be too busy for you."

* * *

"Furlong!" LaCroix shouted loudly as he, with just his palm, forcefully shoved Jake into the lockers. "We gotta talk about your wardrobe."

"My what?" Jake cradled his elbow. "The last kat that did that, I got detention for kicking his tail."

LaCroix was very quiet for a few seconds and then bellowed out a deep laugh. "Oh..." He had to catch his breath. "Oh my god. I thought you were serious for a second." When he finally managed to calm down he tugged on Jake's sleeve with disgust. "What the hell are you wearing? It's game day."  
Jake eyed LaCroix's jersey. "I thought that was just a varsity thing."

"No." LaCroix huffed. "It's a football thing." He kicked the bag with Jake's gear. "You gotta represent, brother. Put it on."

Jake dug his jersey out of his bag and started to pull it on over his shirt.

"Nah." LaCroix stopped him. "Lose the lame t-shirt." He tilted his head a group of she-kats gathered by their own lockers, slyly watching the exchange.

"I'm not taking off my shirt." Jake whispered.

"Dude, I'm doing you a favor. Just do it." LaCroix rolled his eyes.

Shooting the girls a nervous look, and silently praying they wouldn't laugh, Jake pulled off his t-shirt. He tossed it into his bag and then pulled on the loose jersey.

"That's more like it." LaCroix clapped him on the shoulder. "See you later, small fry."

The bell rang and Jake hurried to get his things together. One of the girls approached him.

"Hey, Jake." She was thin and was wearing very form fitting attire. Her fur was light brown, her hair was bleach blond, and she smelled _really_ good.

"H-Hey." Jake managed to get out once he was able to look her in the eye.

"Good luck tonight." She purred. "I'll be sure to cheer for you."

"Cheer for... me?" Jake noticed for the first time that the tight shirt she was wearing was actually the top to the JV cheerleader uniform. Nervously, he started to back away. "Oh... okay. I'll... I'll see you, you know, at the game." He turned around and nearly collided with Miranda. "Jeez, Miranda. Why are you standing so close to me?"

"I wasn't doing anything? Why are you talking to Becky Browntail?" Miranda hissed.

"Her name's Becky?" Jake looked back to see her walking away with her friends. He bit his lip when she waved 'goodbye'.

Miranda shoved him, hard, in the stomach. "Wake up, Jake. Oh my gosh. I mean, it isn't like she doesn't know she's gorgeous. I heard she's a slut."

"Really?" Jake sounded almost excited by the possibility.

"Yeah." Miranda glared. "In the 'most likely to give you the clap and then drop out because she's pregnant' sort of way."

"Now you're being ridiculous." Jake huffed. "Jealousy doesn't suit you. I have to go."

Miranda watched him leave, her blood boiling in her veins. "I'll show you 'jealous'."

* * *

"Coach wasn't kidding about the teams we'd be playing this year." TL grumbled. So far, first game of the year, and they were losing. Down by three touchdowns to the Clawville Cougars. "Those kats shouldn't even be in high school. Let alone on JV."

"What are we gonna do?" Fritz asked. "So far you haven't even managed to throw the ball. They're on you like flies on shit, bro."  
Coach Simmons blew the whistle, signaling a time out. He looked at the scoreboard as his team approached. It was the last quarter, but he was sure they could pull it off. "Alright, here's what we're gonna do."

"I can't believe they're playing them against that team." Chance complained.

"Well it isn't the score that's important, right?" Melissa attempted to be positive. What she got was a glare from not only Chance and Rita, but her son as well. It was quiet in the stands, mostly parents and friends of the players. The big crowds weren't until Friday, for the varsity game.

"I never thought I'd say this about football." Blake groaned. "But this is kind of boring."

* * *

"Now let's just hope they're too stupid to catch on." Jake said to Fritz as they resumed their positions on the field.

"Look at 'em, Jake." Fritz huffed. "The steroids have probably turned all their brains to mush."

For the first time since kickoff, Jake had butterflies in his stomach. What if he screwed up? 'Don't be stupid,' he told himself. The ball was in play and Fritz pulled off an impressive interception right before getting nailed. That was okay. It got them the ball. Fritz was slow to get up, but he shook it off. As they set up for the new play, he told Jake "I really _really_ hope this works, because you don't want that to happen. Trust me."

"Thanks." Jake felt a new wave of anxiety. He shot a nervous look up to the stands and was surprised to see a familiar face chatting with Rita. And then Chance moved and he saw Blake. "Definitely no screwing this up now." There was the whistle. Then TL had the ball, letting it go as soon as he had it. Jake snatched it out of the air and ran. It happened so fast that the Cougars didn't even know it happened until TL was down but didn't have the ball and Jake was in the end zone.

* * *

"YEAH!" Chance's own shouting was matched by Rita's and Blake's. But another voice drowned all three of them out.

"GO GET 'EM JAKE!" Melissa screamed, earning her a surprised look. "What? I didn't say I _wanted_ them to lose."

* * *

"That was a good run, Furlong. Let's try that again." Simmons clapped his paws. "But let's switch things up a little bit. I don't want 'em knowing which way to go. Keep 'em confused."

The JV Tigers managed to tie things up but it was nearing the end of the game. Clawville's coach huffed as he paced in front of his team. "Take 37 out. I'll take a tie but I ain't losin to a bunch of she-kats. If he runs the ball, break his legs."

With the clock running down and the possibility of a win within their grasp, everyone seemed to be running on adrenaline. Again, TL had the ball, this time taking it back a little bit before throwing it to Jake. Jake caught it and tucked it close. He couldn't help feeling a little bit like he did during practice when he felt himself getting boxed in. He swore he could hear the time ticking down. Somewhere in the buzzing of his brain and the beating of his heart, he heard:

'Let's go Furlong! Let's go!'

Then, as he was about to score again, he felt it. He was a compact car being hit by two semi's.

* * *

"Dear God!" Rita gasped, standing up. The game ending buzzer seemed to echo throughout the stadium.

"He made it in!" Chance shouted, standing up too. "Come on kid! Get up!"

* * *

All Jake could do was lay there for a minute. It hurt to breathe, and his knee was thrumming with pain. He heard someone saying 'it's good' and then a familiar paw extended to pull him up. "What the hell was that?" Jake choked out, as he was pulled to his feet, and the small crowd cheered.

"A train wreck." Fritz laughed. "Dude, they made you public enemy numero uno and singled you out."

"Yeah." Jake frowned. "I'm gonna be feeling that for a month."

"Great game, Jake!" Becky jogged up to him.

"Heh." Jake reached to scratch the back of his head, only to realize he was still wearing his helmet. He quickly pulled it off. "Um.. thanks. You were... you cheered nice..."

Becky gave him a funny look. "I'll see you at school tomorrow. Are you going to the varsity game?"

"Maybe." Jake turned his head to see his family leaving the bleachers.

"I hope you go. I'll be there." Becky waved. "See you."  
"Yeah..." Jake cleared his throat.

"Dude!" Fritz burst into laughter. "What was that? 'You cheered nice'. You're such a dork!"

* * *

"He-ey," Jake drew out the word as he slapped Blake's extended paw. "When did you get here?"

"This morning." Blake took Jake's bag from him without thinking. "We're staying with Ms. Rita. Nice game! I swore you weren't going to play at all from the beating you kats took at the beginning."

Jake was relieved from not having to carry the extra weight, but it made his favoring his right leg more noticeable. "No kidding? TL was getting so pissed off." He heard the tell-tale 'beep' of the alarm on the car being disabled in unison with the locks opening up. "Are we getting pizza?"

"Yeah." Chance opened the passenger door and Jake started to get in. "Hey hold up a second, kitten. Melissa's ridin' shotgun. You can sit back there with Blake."

"What about Rita?" Jake looked back for the older she-kat.

"I'm going home, baby." Rita gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. "You were great out there."

Jake frowned. "You're not eating with us?"

Rita felt her heart sink a little at the almost pouting look in Jake's green eyes. "No sweetie. Pizza isn't really my thing. You kits have fun. Chance, are you bringing them around later?"

"Yeah. I was gonna drop Mel and Blake off before Jake and I went home." Chance gave his mother a quick hug. "Are you going to be up?"

"I'm not _that_ old." Rita huffed.

* * *

Pizza House was already crowded by the time they got there. Jake broke into a grin when he saw his teammates sitting at a table, digging into a large pizza. "Come on," he said to Blake.

"How about we let them do their thing and we go sit in that booth over there?" Chance asked Melissa.

"Sounds good to me, as long we can see them." Melissa replied.

"Blake, this is TL and Fritz... and that's LaCroix on the end." Jake went around the table naming his teammates and new found friends.

"What's up, Blake?" Fritz clapped him on the back. "How'd you like that first class ass kicking your little friend here dished out?"

"I gotta say." Blake smirked. "I'm surprised they didn't wipe the field with him. But I guess you city toms just go a little easier on your opponents than we do back home."

"Here we go..." Jake rolled his eyes. "Hey, how's Sandy? Does she ask about me?"

"You ask me that, like, every day." Blake sighed. "Didn't I see you talking to some cheerleader after the game?"

"Yeah well..." Jake blushed. "I gotta keep my options open."

"Please!" TL laughed. "Fritz told me about Furlong 'talking' to Becky. He ain't smooth enough to 'keep his options open'."

"Can it, TL." Jake huffed, throwing a piece of sausage at him. "I didn't see you talking to any girls either."

"I don't need to. _They_ talk to _me_." TL defended himself.

"Yeah. Okay." Jake chuckled. "So when are you leaving?"

Blake shrugged. "Some time this weekend I guess. My mom said me and you could hang out tomorrow night while she and Chance went out."

"Great." Jake was torn between being disappointed and excited. "That means we're both crashing at Rita's tomorrow. I wonder if I can talk him into letting us stay at our place. Where we have cable."

Blake's eyes lit up. "I'll work on convincing my mom if you work on convincing Chance. I'm sure that, between the two of us, we can swing it."

Jake looked across the pizza parlor at his guardian, finding him happily engaged in conversation with Melissa. "I don't think that's going to be too hard."

Chance dropped Melissa and Blake off, and then he and Jake went home. "You don't have too much homework, do you?"

"You don't really want an answer to that question." Jake dropped tiredly into a chair in the small kitchen. Charlie jumped up, putting her front paws on his leg, drawing out a hiss of pain from her owner. "Hey girl." He scratched her between the ears while she tried to lick his paw.

"Down." Chance snapped his fingers and pointed at the floor. Charlie obediently sat. "Good girl." He said as he pulled another chair over. "What'd you do to your leg?"  
Jake winced as he lifted his leg up and rested his foot on the chair. He tried to pull his pants leg up over his knee. "I twisted it when I got tackled."

"It might be easier if you just lose the jeans." Chance instructed as he pulled an icepack from the freezer. Jake gave him a defiant look but shucked his pants. Chance sat the ice on the mildly swollen joint. "It doesn't look too bad. Just keep that on it. I'll grab your backpack so you can get your homework done."

"So Blake said you and Melissa had a date tomorrow." Jake pried.

"Yeah." Chance looked worried. "You don't mind, do you? I mean, I know we usually find something to do on Friday nights but..."  
"It's fine, Chance." Jake cut him off. "I'm just being nosy. What are you two going to do?"  
"I thought I'd take her around the city. You know downtown is really nice when it isn't being demolished by crazy monsters." Chance looked thoughtful. "And I thought you and Blake would have a good time just watching movies or whatever at Mom's."

Jake bit his lip. "About that..." He looked hopeful. "How much begging would I have to do to get you to let us stay here?"

Chance chuckled. "Yeah right."  
"Aw come on, Chance." Jake pouted. "Rita doesn't even have a dvd player... or cable. And we'd probably just get on her nerves."

"Yeah well at least I know you won't break any windows or anything." Chance glared.

"That was a one time thing. And we were outside. With adults less than a hundred feet away. Come on, Chance. I'm almost fifteen. I was an Enforcer for crying out loud. And you've left me here, by myself, a dozen times." Jake pleaded.

Chance sighed. "Do your homework, and I'll think about it."

* * *

"Thanks." Jake took the extra large can of energy drink.

"Damn, kat. You look like you got maybe an hour of sleep." Fritz let out a low whistle as he admired the dark puffy bags under his friend's eyes and the unbrushed fur.

"Had an essay on the different varieties of hamsters for Miss Summers..." Jake yawned. "And then had to study for a test in German." He drained the beverage in two gulps. "Add another early rehearsal to the list... hey I gotta hit up my locker. I'll catch you at lunch."

"If you make it that far." Fritz looked doubtful."Are you coming to the game tonight?"

"I dunno." Jake shrugged. "Because Blake's here... if I can get a ride, maybe we will. I'll see ya."

"Yeah." Fritz went his own way.

Jake managed to work his combination into the lock on the first try and got the stubborn door open. He reached for his Algebra book and saw something flutter to the ground. Grunting in pain, Jake bent to retrieve the item. "What the...?" Deja vu stung him like an angry wasp as he stared at the picture of him in the Tiger's locker room. "No way." Jake whispered. "Someone's gotta be messing with my head." He shoved the photo into his backpack and slammed his locker shut.

The day dragged by with Jake watching the clock. At lunch, he covertly slipped some aspirin out of a pocket in his backpack and dry swallowed them before going to the cafeteria. His friends talked about going to the varsity game, about the weekend, and about the smoking hot Spanish teacher, while he willed himself to eat his lunch, hoping it would settle the pain in his head and level out the shakiness lingering from his energy drink. Jake ended up just sleeping through German. And, while Frau Shuman wasn't happy, the nap seemed to do him a lot of good. Jake felt renewed by the time the final bell rang.

"Your school is like a freaking college!" Blake exclaimed as Jake got in the car. "It's huge compared to mine."

"Yeah well, Pawline has, what? A population of one hundred?" Jake teased. "Hey Meliss-ugh!" He was cut off as Charlie pounced in his lap and began slobbering all over his face. "Stop!" Charlie sat, her tail swishing loudly against the leather seats. "Yuck." Jake groaned, wiping his face dry with his arm. "So did we figure out what we're doing?"

"You two promise that, if we leave you alone, you won't wreak havoc?" Melissa turned to glare at the two boys in the backseat.

"Cross my heart." Jake innocently drew an 'X' over his chest with his claw.

"Aw come on, Mom. You've left me alone a billion times." Blake huffed.

"Yes, but every time you two are together, you seem to forget how to behave." Melissa replied.

"We'll be fine." Blake sighed.

"Alright." Chance cleared his throat. "So this is what we're going to do. We're all gonna go to the game tonight and then we'll drop you two off at the yard and Melissa and I are going out."

"Yes!" Blake high-fived Jake.

Chance shot Melissa a worried look. "I already regret agreeing to this."

"This is where you live?" Blake looked disappointed as he looked around the mountains of broken vehicles.

"Trust me, not by choice." Jake winced. "It's actually not so bad. Chance made me a dirt bike track and paintball doesn't get any better than out there."

"You play paintball?" Blake's ears perked up. "You think we can play tomorrow?"

"Sure." Jake grinned. "Chance won't play against me."

"He won't either once you kick his tail." Chance joked as he unlocked the garage. "This way to Casa Del Furlong."

Melissa's eyes swept over the small kitchen and dining nook with a critical eye and smiled. "What a perfect little bachelor pad."

"So where's your room?" Blake asked, anxious to get rid of his overnight bag.

"This way." Jake immediately regretted not cleaning it like Chance had asked. He pushed open his door, Charlie rushing passed to jump on the unmade bed.

"And Mom bitches about my room..." Blake said quietly. "What is all this junk?" He picked up a gutted computer component.

Jake looked offended. "That is not junk. I'm rebuilding a computer." He took the equipment from Blake's paws.

"Rebuilding a..." Blake's eyes widened. "What are you? Some kind of computer nerd? And what's with the keyboard?" He pointed at the piano.

"Jake didn't tell you?" Chance reveled in the way both teens jumped at the sound of his voice.

"Tell me what?" Blake looked worried.

"It's not a big deal." Jake ducked his head in embarrassment.

"Aw come on, Jake. How often does anyone get to meet a kitten genius?" Chance bragged. "Jake was in the Enforcers with me. That's how we met. And that's why we live here."

"_You_ were an Enforcer?" Blake laughed.

"It's true." Jake pulled open a dresser drawer and removed an envelope containing awards and certificates.

"You should hang those up, Jake." Chance looked a bit hurt that the teen didn't find them important enough to display.

"Eh.." Jake waved his paw dismissively.

"Holy shit." Blake whispered.

"Blake!" Melissa scolded.

"You really are a genius! What the hell are you doing in high school? You could be running the world or something." Blake glared at Jake.

"Chance and I disobeyed a direct order and got the boot from the Enforcers. Living and working here is a dual punishment. And they added 4 years of high school to my sentence since I never went." Jake shrugged. "Last year really sucked but now I'm figuring I got the sweet end of the bargain." He smirked.

"Yeah. No kidding." Chance chuckled.

"What about your parents?" Melissa huffed. "They just dumped you off on a complete stranger?"

Both Jake and Chance winced.

"Chance can tell you about that later." Jake replied in a near whisper. "You wanna check out that dirt bike track?"

"Sure." Blake grinned.

"Sore subject?" Melissa was apologetic.

"You could say that." Chance waited until the boys were gone. "He lost his mom when he was little. And his dad was a real piece of work. He died last year, a few months after all this happened."

"I'm sorry." Melissa frowned. "If I would have known, I wouldn't have brought it up. My gosh, I just assumed that, when you said Jake was adopted, that you'd taken care of him his whole life. You two just seemed so close. I didn't think this was so new."

"Well... he's been apart of my life since he was 9." Chance shrugged. "He really is like a son to me, Mel. He's gone through so much crap and I was the one he came to. Not his father. It really only seemed right." He laughed. "You know, last year, he was a completely different kit. He was so serious and brooding over everything. You wouldn't believe the difference."

* * *

The atmosphere for the Varsity Tigers game was completely different from that of the night before. The stands were full, the marching band was playing loudly. The cheerleaders were more enthusiastic. And the crowd was much louder.

"Hey Chance..." Jake grabbed his guardian's arm.

"What?" Chance turned as he was about to lead Melissa to a seat.

"I just saw Fritz and TL. We're going over there. Is that okay?" Jake looked hopeful.

"Yeah. Sure." Chance couldn't help but smile. "Just keep your phone where you can hear it."

"Sure." Jake was already walking away.

TL and Fritz were sitting on a grassy hill overlooking the field. With them were a few she-kats and a few other boys from school. And Becky.

"Crud." Jake hissed as he took in her skin tight jeans and low-cut baby-doll t-shirt.

"What's wrong?" Blake asked as his friend started to turn around.

"Jake!" Becky exclaimed. "You came!"

"Uh huh." Jake willed his heart to settle, among other things. Why did she have to dress like that? It did terrible things to him.

"Who's your friend?" Becky winked at Blake.

"Who?" Jake asked, feeling her paws grab his wrist to pull him towards his friends. "Oh... um... This is Blake..."

She laughed. "Jake and Blake. How cute! Are you brothers?"

"Why?" Blake offered a flirty smile. "You have a sister?"

Becky giggled. "No. But I do have some friends."

"What up small fry?" TL shouted. "And you brought the country boy with you!"

"So what's the deal?" Blake asked after Becky and some of her girlfriends left. "I thought you said you had a girlfriend before and she's practically throwing herself at you."

Jake sighed. "I did. But Suri was a lot different. Don't get me wrong, she was hot in her own way. But she didn't dress like that. I feel like my brain shuts down when she starts talking to me. I go from genius to short-bus in less than a millisecond."

"Duh." Blake laughed. "I bet she's got tits like Kayla's. Just get her number at least."

"I dunno." Jake saw the girls walking back from the concessions stand with a couple of drinks. "She'll probably realize I'm a nerd and dump me."

"Then call me up and I'll swoop in on the rebound." Blake smirked. "But you're too chicken."

"No I'm not." Jake hissed. "I'm realistic."

"Whatever." Blake rolled his eyes. "So Becky," he smiled at the she-kat. "Did you know my friend Jake here was an Enforcer?"  
"Nuh uh." Becky laughed. "You can't be an Enforcer unless you're at least 18."

"No. He was. I saw all his certificates and stuff. Isn't that right, Jake?" Blake kept on.

"Uh..." Jake glared at him. "Y-yeah. Actually, it's public knowledge now. You can look it up in the Enforcer database. All former Enforcers and non-active duty recruits are listed."

"So what were you like a pilot or something?" Becky beamed.

"Kind of." Jake cleared his throat. "I... I had a little bit of pilot training. But I set the bar for marksmanship. I was a gunner."

"Ooh." Becky purred. "So you know how to handle your weapon?"

Jake felt his breath catch in his throat at the innuendo. "You... you could say that."

She twirled a strand of her hair around her finger. "So... what _else_ do you know how to do?"

"I can fight." Jake cleared his throat. "I can... you know, take a computer apart and put it back together without messing it up."

Becky's eyes lit up. "You know, I... broke my computer last week. Maybe you could come by and take a look at it for me?"

"Come by... come by where?" Jake looked down at her paw that was now on his leg.

"My house. I have it in my room." Becky replied innocently.

"I..."

"I'll just give you my number and you can call me and let me know when you can look at it." She shoved her paw into Jake's pocket and felt around for his phone.

"That..." Jake cleared his throat again. "That's not my phone."

"Whoops." Becky giggled as she removed her paw from his jeans. "My mistake."

Shaking slightly, Jake retrieved the device out of the other pocket and handed it to her.

"Thank you." Becky slid it open and entered her name and number in. "There ya go. You better call me."

"I will." Jake squeaked as she got up.

"Come on girls." She beckoned her friends as she stood up.

"Holy shit." Jake choked out as soon as she left.

* * *

"Alright." Chance gave the two boys a stern look. "Please don't take off and do something crazy. I don't care if you're still up when we get back, as long as you're here and nothing is on fire."

"On fire, Chance?" Jake huffed. "Really."

"Okay." Chance glared. "No drinking. No smoking. And if I get a call from the cops _again_ I'll break your legs."

"Be good." Melissa gave Blake a kiss on the forehead. "Have fun. Bye."

"What's he mean by 'again'?" Blake asked Jake as soon as they were alone.

"It's a long story. Well... two long stories actually." Jake laughed. "So Chance thinks he's smooth putting parental locks on the remote but I figured it out so we can watch whatever. _And_ I figured out that if you press a certain series of buttons, it unlocks the adult channels."

"Sweet!" Blake jumped onto the couch. "We've got titties but no beer."

"But we have pizza, chips and soda." Jake tossed him the remote.

"Alright. So how do I unlock this thing?" Blake grinned.

* * *

"Wow. That was amazing." Melissa hooked her arm through Chance's and leaned on him as they walked. She was feeling slightly buzzed from the wine she'd had with dinner. "I never knew Italian food could be so good!"

"The French place isn't so bad either. I figured we could do that next time." Chance walked with her down the sidewalk. "Come on. I wanna show you one of my favorite places."

Friday night in downtown Megakat City was exciting. All the bars and clubs were busy. Music was played out on the streets. The lights in the fountains sparkled. It was hard to believe that just a week ago, a mutated lizard kat tried to turn it all into an ugly swamp.

"Where are we going?" Melissa asked when she realized they were walking away from the hustle and bustle.

"Battery Park." Chance slid his arm from hers so that he could hold her paw. He pulled her through the gates of the well-maintained monument. "This was a Mega War II airstrip originally. They built this park to honor the kats that lost their lives in the war. But when I was a kitten, it was still just an abandoned airstrip. My dad would bring me here and we'd watch the jets take off from the new one." He led her over to a wrought iron bench.

"You must really love flying." Melissa leaned into him. "You miss it?"

"Nah." Chance let his claws work through her hair. "I'd say I got the better end of the bargain." He felt her turn her head up and he looked down. "You must have a really low tolerance for alcohol." He teased.

"I most certainly do not." Melissa huffed. "You just happen to smell really nice, and it doesn't hurt that you aren't too hard on the eyes."

"Not too hard on the eyes?" Chance pretended to be offended.

"A little modesty would do you some good, you know." Melissa stretched to kiss him on the chin but he dipped his head so that their lips connected. She felt him purr into her mouth and it sent chills through her. His paw on her hip didn't do much to settle her down.

"It's late." Chance nuzzled her. "We should go home."

"You're right." Melissa looked a bit disappointed.

"Relax. If I know Jake, he's out already. It's almost three in the morning. And he's been running on 5 hours of sleep." Chance explained.

"And if he's asleep, then Blake was probably too bored to try and stay awake." Melissa caught his drift.

Just as Chance had suspected, the lights were off. The television was on, playing a sci-fi film on one of the movie channels. Jake was curled up awkwardly in Chance's recliner, while Blake was on his stomach on the couch. Even Charlie was asleep.

"Shh." Chance mouthed and pointed. They moved down the dark hallway, stopping so that Chance could turn the light on in his room.

Melissa gave the tidy room an approving look. "You run a tight ship."

"I try." Chance wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed the back of her neck tenderly. He felt her tense. "Something wrong?"

"No. It's just that... well... it's been quite a while since I've been with anyone." Melissa looked up at him through her lashes as she turned around. "I'm just a little nervous."

"If you don't want to... I can crash in Jake's room." Chance wasn't going to pressure her.

"No." Melissa looked down at the soft rug. "I just said I was nervous. Not that I was backing out."

"Would it help if I turned off the light?" Chance teased.

"But then I won't get to admire your physique." Melissa quipped.

"Well then what are we waiting for?" Chance removed his shirt and flexed his arms.

* * *

Blake blinked the sleep out of his eyes and stared at the tv screen. The noise he was hearing didn't match up to the firefight playing out in front of him so he turned it off and sat up. The tell-tale squeaking of bed springs and corresponding moaning and grunting made him cringe. He threw the remote as hard as he could at Jake.

Jake snorted loudly in his sleep and jerked awake. "Wha..?"

"Shh!" Blake hissed, silencing his friend. "Do you hear that?"

Jake listened and then groaned. "Just tune it out. Trust me. If you don't, you're just going to traumatize yourself even more." 


	3. Chapter 3

.com/watch?v=quSlu1DoEek _**This is the only place I could find where you could hear the song that inspired this chapter. Trumpan by Clan Na Gael (performed by Kirk McLeod)**_

* * *

"Ease up on the throttle, Razor." T-Bone ghosted a paw over his gunner's console. It felt odd switching places. "You can't be afraid of her."

"I'm not afraid of her." Razor defended, forcing himself to relax as he piloted the Turbokat through the canyon. "What are you doing?" He heard T-Bone pressing buttons behind him.

"Chill out. I'm not gonna break anything. I'm not as technologically impaired as you think." T-Bone chuckled as several blips appeared on the radar. "Alright. We're going to play a little game called 'what would T-Bone do'."

Razor looked at the radar with surprise. "Okay. And what are the rules?"

T-Bone grinned. "There's just two rules. One: don't get shot down. And Two: don't pass out." He pressed another button and the missile lock warning began blaring. "Oh yeah. And any dings you get, you're buffing out."

"Dings? How would I get dings?" Razor heard the tell tale sound of laser beams and then felt the jet shudder. "You're using live ammo?"

"Heh heh. Yeah." T-Bone chuckled. "You better move it. You've already got some detail work to do."  
"Shit." Razor cursed and rolled the jet. "And if the G-LOC gets me?"

"Relax. I got it covered." T-Bone shifted in his seat. "How do you do anything back here? It's so cramped?"

Razor narrowed his eyes as he tried to stay focused on not getting hit by T-Bone's lasers. "What would T-Bone do?" He repeated in his thoughts. "Just relax. You can do this."

* * *

"Yeah-ha!" T-Bone cheered as he jumped out of the cockpit. "Nice flying, _ace_." He slapped his partner on the back.

Razor pulled off his helmet and mask, taking a shaky breath.

"I can't believe you didn't pass out! That was amazing!" T-Bone kept up his praise as he took a walk around to inspect any damage. "I mean you caught some fire but all in all, you kicked ass!"

"Thanks." Jake forced a grin onto his face.

"Thank God for teacher work days, huh?" Chance was still grinning madly. "Hey hurry up and get changed. I got something upstairs I wanna give ya."

"Sure. I'll be right up." Jake watched his guardian jog up the steps, wincing when he heard Charlie getting yelled at. He took a moment to rest his head against the cold metal locker with "Razor" scratched into it. "I cannot keep this up," he mumbled, pressing his knuckles into his temples. He remembered something about pressure points he'd learned when he was learning martial arts. "Please work," Jake whispered as he pinched a spot between his thumb and index claw. Surprisingly, the pain abated. "Thank you."

Charlie was sulking behind the couch when Jake came upstairs. "What'd she do?" Jake asked.

Chance held up a chewed up pair of shoes. "What did I say about leaving these out?"

"Uh..." Jake turned to see if he'd shut his bedroom door. He could see from the living room that it was closed. "I forgot?"

Chance narrowed his eyes into a glare before tossing the ruined chucks into the trash. "I'm not getting you another pair."

"Fine. Then _I'll_ buy me another pair." Jake huffed.

"Not if I don't take you to buy them." Chance countered. "They're gonna make you sprain an ankle or something."  
"Oh my gosh." Jake groaned. "Please stop nagging." He could feel the dull ache expanding back into that sharp stabbing pain. "Is that what you wanted to give me? A lecture about proper footwear?"

Chance shook his head. "No. I wanted to give you this." He handed Jake a thin book.

"Like I don't have enough to read already." Jake complained. "A driver's manual? Really?"

"Your birthday is coming up. I figured you'd kind of like to get your permit. That's so you can pass the test."

Jake chuckled. "I don't need this to pass the test, Chance. It's all common sense stuff like 'stop at a stop sign' and 'use your signal'."

"If you're parked on an incline, which way do you turn your wheels?" Chance asked.

Jake arched an eyebrow.

"Come on, smarty pants. Which way?" Chance waited.

"Er... left?"

Chance let out an amused snort. "Yeah. You just hang on to that, okay? I'm gonna fix us some lunch. You want a sand..."

***BZZZZTTT***

"Is that a customer?" Jake looked out the window. He spotted the mail delivery truck at the gate, the driver pressing the button for it to open. "You expecting parts or something?"

"No." Chance started out the door. Jake followed him down the stairs through the shop and outside. Chance hit the button to open the gates and the driver pulled in. "Hey Lenny." He approached the delivery kat he'd grown accustomed to handling their part orders. "Making a social call?"

"Nah." He got out of his truck with a large delivery envelope under his arm. "This is addressed to Jacob Clawson. From the beautiful Emerald Isle." Lenny added an impressive Irish accent as he held out his scanner for the boy to sign. "Take it easy." He pulled himself back into his truck.

"Who's it from?" Chance was more than just a little curious.

"I dunno. Someone named William O'Clawdale." Jake started to open the seal and then stopped. "What if it's a bomb or something? What if we didn't get everyone that had it out for my dad?"

"You got any little gadgets down in the hangar that can answer that?" Chance took the package, shifting it in his paws to try and figure out what was in it. He felt something hard and square. It could be a box. Or it could be something lethal. And he couldn't fault the boy for worrying.

"Yeah. I do I think." Jake's eyes widened and he snatched the package back and ran inside. Charlie chased him into the office and down the stairs leading to the hangar. "I was fooling around with some airport scanners we somehow got dumped on us." He cleared some stuff off his work station and booted up the computer.

"Doesn't look like a bomb. It looks like some papers and a box with something in it." Chance squinted at the screen when Jake had finally got everything up and working.

Jake turned everything off and opened the package. He disregarded what looked like a paw written letter and sliced the tape on the small box. "Okay," Jake mumbled as he carefully picked up the very ornate rosary. It's beads were dark red and polished and they lead down to a gothic crucifix. A chill worked up his spine as he rolled the beads between his claws. Something about the religious item just screamed 'antique'. A glint of silver caught his eye and he looked back down. There was silver braided chain in the box as well, with a plain, but tarnished, silver band on it. Jake visible shivered and put the rosary back in the box. Then he picked up the letter. He had to squint to read the mix of slant and swirl written with a clearly shaking paw.

"Dearest Jacob," It started.

"The last time I had the pleasure of your presence, you were a wee kitten. And it was a sad day indeed. These items I have included are trinkets of your mother's, my dear Miriam. Your grandmother was supposed to have sent them to you when all the horrible tragedies had passed. But alas she has passed on as well.  
You are hard soul to find, laddie. I hope this reaches you. Miriam adored you in a way that I often criticized would spoil you. She would laugh and say that she hoped you were rotten, but then she was taken so quickly. Olwen, your dear grandmother, had a young fellow put together some video recordings. She feared that you would forget our daughter, your mother.

I hope that I am not causing you distress with these items. Miriam would never forgive me, but I owe it to Olwen to see that you obtain what once was important to your mother.

While it is not likely that I will have the pleasure of visiting you across the sea, I look forward to your response. If anything, it will be a comfort and a relief to know that Olwen's wishes were carried out.

Your Grandfather,

William Jacob O'Clawdale"

Jake looked perplexed as he finished reading the letter. "I don't understand. I thought I didn't have any other family. Just my dad and then..." He trailed off. "He said there was a recording."

Chance looked back into the envelope. "Ah." Sure enough, there was a disc secured in bubble wrap. "You... uh... you want to watch it in the living room or would you rather I didn't stick around?"

Jake bit the inside of his cheek. On one paw, he wouldn't want Chance to feel awkward. On the other, Jake didn't really want to be left alone with something that would potentially upset him. Then again, if he did get upset, he didn't want Chance to see it. "What if..." He took the disc. "What if I just watched it and then let you watch it later?"

"Are you sure?" Chance couldn't help feeling disappointed.

"Yeah." Jake picked up the jewelry and the letter. "I'm just gonna put it on my laptop."

Chance decided it was best to just give Jake his space to deal with this however he felt he could for the moment. He could pick up the pieces later. So the tabby went down into the garage to work on the GTO he was rebuilding. He called Melissa and put his cell on speaker so that he could talk paws-free. She always made the time slip by faster. It wasn't until Charlie was whining at the door to go out that Chance realized how late it had gotten. "I need to go." Chance chuckled. "I've gotta figure out something for dinner."

"Same here." Melissa chuckled. "I'll talk to you later."

"Love you." Chance said without really thinking about it. And she responded with a soft 'you too' before ending the call. He opened the door and let the dog out, watching her in the fading sunlight. A cool breeze drifted in. Summer seemed content to hang on during the day while autumn had her turn at night. After the dog had finished her business, Chance went upstairs. "Jake!" He called out, going through the small home. The teen's door was open, as was the window. He exhaled loudly and sat on the bed. Jake had at least left him a note. "You can watch it if you want." That was all it said. Chance tapped the touch pad and the black screen rippled like an endless puddle before revealing the desktop and the open video player. He clicked play.

"Pay attention now, Jake. This is my favorite part."

Chance felt his heart clench as he recognized the video from the photo of Jake sitting in his mother's lap at a piano.

"Come on. Your father's watching. Make him proud." Miriam purred in an angelic voice as she guided the toddler's paws through the familiar tune of 'Heart and Soul'. He giggled as he tapped the wrong key. And then again.

"What are you doing?" She huffed with mock indignation.

"Mine's better." He replied with a slight lisp. "Right daddy?" He turned to look in the direction of the camera.

Dr. Clawson's voice sounded far more gentle than Chance had ever heard it. "Sounds good to me. And it's way better than Beethoven."

"Toms." Miriam huffed. "No respect for the classics."

From there, the video fell away and a series of photos seemed to drop into view like leaves falling from a tree. There were some Chance had copies of. And some he'd never seen, and he was certain Jake had never seen. Miriam and James on their wedding day. Then there was one of Jake in the middle of both his parents, a paw in each of theirs as he learned to walk. Chance's ears drooped. It was hard to see the ill-fated and vile Dr. Clawson in such a good light. Perhaps he really had cared for the boy. Then a flowery scrip appeared on the screen. "Dear Jacob." It read and then vanished to be replaced by more words. "This will be hard, but I want you to remember" Fading away and then more words "How beautiful she looked after such a horrible tragedy." Soft, melancholy music flowed from the speakers. "Miriam loved you."

Most of the photos were black and white, but there were several in color as well. Images of flower arrangements... cards written in bright color from her students. Candles lit in front of photos. There was one of a short older she-kat, her arms full with a small kitten in her lap, his head buried in her chest. Although there wasn't any color to the picture, Chance knew instantly that it had to be Jake's grandmother. There were just too many similarities to Miriam. Then there was another of a pair of paws delicately folded together with a strand of beads woven around them. He looked away, spotting the exact same rosary and wondered if Jake had been holding it when he saw it. There was another picture. A black and white of a kitten, clearly Jake. His head was turned downward, eyes closed, furry cheeks wet. Chance closed the computer. He couldn't watch anymore. Maybe it was the music. Maybe it was whoever had been handling the photography at the funeral. They did a damn good job of capturing the heartache in everyone. He almost felt like he'd been there, like he'd lost someone himself. What were they thinking? Why would they want him to remember that? Then Chance thought about what Jake had told him about his mother, about how all he could remember was her face covered in blood. But what was worse? Remembering a gory crime scene? Or realizing you'd lost something you had clung to with dear life with no hope of ever regaining it? Chance clenched his fists tightly, willing his own emotions to calm down. Then he carefully pulled himself out the window and onto the rusty ladder that went up to the roof. Chance didn't bother calling out for him. He could see him, leaning against the bricks that had supported him just a year ago when they'd talked about his father. "You need to get up." He held out a paw for Jake to pull himself up with.

"Why?" Jake asked, gravel in his voice.

"We have something we need to do." Chance simply answered.

Jake stared at the proffered paw for several seconds before letting his guardian pull him to his feet.

* * *

Jake stayed in the car while Chance went into the small florist. He didn't understand what they were doing, and he really just wanted to bury himself in something and not come out until he was too old and angry to care what anyone thought. Chance returned with a nice arrangement of tiger lilies and gave them to the teen. "Hang onto these, if you wouldn't mind."

"Yeah. Sure." Jake whispered. He felt drained to the point of emptiness, and was thankful it had taken Chance so long to pull himself out of the garage and finally check on him. He couldn't remember ever crying so hard that he couldn't breathe with every attempt to do so resulting in his choking. Now, his head pounded, his sinuses were completely blocked, and his throat felt like he'd just spend several hours screaming. A shudder went through him, making his breathing hitch. He got another when Chance drove slowly through the gates of the large cemetery. "Come on." He encouraged. "When's the last time you brought your mom flowers?"

Jake looked at him as if he'd lost his mind, but still he got out of the car. "She's dead, Chance." He said it so bluntly that it sent a shock wave through the tabby. "I don't think flowers are going to fix that."

"It's not about her, Jake." Chance put his paw on Jake's shoulder. "You don't bring flowers to someone's grave to try and bring them back. You do it to remember them, to still feel close to them."

Jake looked down at the lilies. "Do you do it?"

"Honestly." Chance looked guilty. "I haven't seen my dad in years. I need to though. And, if you'll do this, then I will to."

Jake forcefully swallowed. "You promise?"

"I promise." Chance said solemnly. "You remember where she is?"

Jake nodded. His parents' graves were two of the more elaborate ones in the graveyard.

"Then I'll just wait here and..."  
"No." Jake interrupted him. "I... um..." He tried to push the fear out of his tone. "You can come with me." Chance walked silently beside him until he stopped a few feet away from where Miriam and James rested. "Have you ever confused a memory from when you were a kitten with a dream that you couldn't forget?"

"Yeah." Chance wasn't sure where Jake was going with this, maybe he was trying to break some of the tension. "I told my mom once that I had a dream a long time ago that I fell down the stairs at Grammy Furlong's. She laughed at me and said that it really had happened. Of course, it wasn't funny then. She said I split my head open and had to get stitches. I think she said there's actually still blood stains in the wood."

Jake's nose scrunched up in disgust.

"What about you?" Chance pried when Jake didn't immediately share whatever it was that had caused the question.

"I remember staring into this deep hole, down at a silver casket. Someone was shoveling dirt onto it and saying something about ashes and dust. I was screaming at them to stop, that she wouldn't be able to get out if they buried her. Someone was holding me so tight I couldn't breathe but I just kept trying to get to her so I could stop them." Jake felt like his knees were going to buckle. "I thought it was just a really bad dream from a stupid movie. Something I shouldn't have watched because my imagination would get away from me." It was either move forward or collapse. So he cautiously approached her grave and laid the flowers in front of the ornate tombstone. "The weirdest thing was hearing her voice." Jake studied the horrid words his father had inscribed in the thick marble. It should have said something about angels and how there would never be anyone that could replace her. That she loved her son and her husband. Her family. His family. "Why couldn't she just listen to him?"

Chance tilted his head curiously. "What do you mean?"

Jake sniffed loudly as his eyes began to cloud again and the pressure in his sinuses loosened. "Before we left. And she told my dad that we were leaving. He grabbed her and told her that he was forbidding her to leave. If he would have just told her that if we left something was going to happen, then she would have stayed."

"You can't stay mad about this your whole life, Jake." Chance put his paw on Jake's where it was gripping the marble with claw-splitting force.

"I'm not." Jake whispered. Then he chuckled. "I remember why the housekeeper got fired now."

"The one that you said tried to teach you how to play the piano?" Chance asked.

Jake nodded. "One day she asked if I wanted to play something my mom liked to play. I guess when my dad heard us playing it, it just hurt too much."

"Heart and Soul?" Chance asked. Again Jake nodded. "I bet she'd be thrilled to hear you now."

"Do you believe in that whole, you know, 'they're never really gone' philosophy?" Jake asked, keeping his eyes on the flowers.

"I dunno." Chance looked around the cemetery. The sun would set soon. "Maybe a little. I mean, weirder things have happened."

Jake nodded his head. "So... I think I can handle this by myself. If you just wanna... you know..."

"Yeah. I gotcha." Chance felt a spark of pride. "I'll wait for you in the car."

Jake felt cold the moment Chance moved his paw off of his. He waited until he heard his footsteps fading away. "Okay so..." He wasn't sure where to start. "I guess, if there really is an afterlife, don't go too hard on dad. I mean, he tried and I really did deserve some of the beatings I got. And tell him I'm sorry for being so difficult. I just wanted to have fun and be a kid and he just wanted to protect me. I understand it now. It doesn't make it right. But I guess in his eyes, if kicking the shit out of me kept me from going out and getting killed then it was what he had to do. I just wish he would have told me when he was alive." Jake took a deep breath. "I guess you'd be pretty disappointed in me after all the stupid stunts I pulled this year, huh? I think, for a minute there, I really just wanted out. I didn't want to be here. I don't want to even think about what dad would have done if he would have been the ones getting called by the cops. Chance deserves a medal. And I really hope you like him. And I hope you aren't as mad about the Swat Kat thing as Rita was." He knelt on the ground in the cool grass. "She's really nice. I'm pretty sure you'd like her if you met her. Which I hope isn't soon. Because I think I kind of need her. So I guess that's it. I'll come see you. I promise. And I won't disappoint you." Jake touched the cold stone. "I love you mom." It came out as a whisper and he had to blink several times to clear his eyes. "I miss you."

"So you're gonna see your dad, right?" Jake asked when he got in the car.

"Not tonight." Chance huffed. "I'm not walking through where he's buried in the dark."

"Chicken." Jake taunted playfully. "You want company?"

Chance narrowed his eyes at the teen. "Sure. But we aren't bringing him flowers."

"Why not?" Jake asked.

"Because my pops would be pissed if I was littering his grave with girly little flowers." Chance smirked. "I mean, that's cool for mom. But not me."

"Oh." Jake looked confused. "But we just brought..."

"That's different. You're supposed to give your mom flowers. They like that sort of thing." Chance explained. "If you don't believe me, bring my mom flowers for no reason one day and see what it does?"

"I'll have to remember that when I ask her to take me to the mall to buy me some new shoes." Jake grinned.

"Now that's just dirty." Chance glared. "Come on. Let's grab some Chinese. I am not cooking dinner this late."

"Right." Jake bit his lip. "Hey there's something I've been meaning to talk to you about."  
Chance looked suspicious. "What?"

"I've started finding pictures in my locker." Jake replied quietly.

"What kind of pictures? Like the kind that means someone's watching you?" Chance felt his blood start to boil.

"Well yeah but, you know how strict the school is so I'm thinking it has to be somebody there because that's where all the pictures were taken." Jake shifted in his seat.

"How many?" Chance asked.

"Just four." Jake replied.

"And why are you just now telling me about this?" Chance glared.

"Uh well..." Jake cringed. "One of them was apparently taken in the boys shower and that's just really weird and the other was kind of... you could say... incriminating."

"Incriminating?" Chance repeated but didn't get any clarification. "And what's the time frame on finding them?"

"I found one on the Thursday before that first game two weeks ago. Two last week. And then another on Friday." Jake explained.

"Okay. First dinner and then when we get home, I wanna see them." Chance's tone implied that it wasn't up for debate.

"Sure." Jake replied.

* * *

Chance glared at the picture of Jake drinking from a large black and green can and then at the teen. "Do I need to even begin to lecture you about this or are you just going to stop drinking them without an argument?"

"What if I promise that as soon as I don't have to get up an hour earlier for morning rehearsal, I'll stop?" Jake pleaded.

"Are you still getting headaches?"

"Yes but..."

"Then no." Chance huffed.

"Chance." Jake sighed. "Okay, if that's the only caffeine I'm consuming in a day, then by the time I get home, it's already metabolized out of my system. It doesn't make any sense for that to trigger them if I'm getting them before I even get out of bed in the morning."

"I know you're smarter than I am, Jake." Chance smirked. "But I'm saying 'no caffeine'. And that means 'no caffeine'."

"Fine." Jake sighed and pulled out his phone.

"What are you doing?"

"Texting Fritz to tell him not to pick me up one on his way to school." Jake huffed.

Chance shook his head. "You got any suspicions?" He waved the photo he was still holding at Jake.

"Well right now the only two kats pissed off at me are Jason and Miranda. I don't think Jason would do anything like this after everything that happened last year, so I'm leaning more towards Miranda."

"And why do you think she'd do it?" Chance asked.

"She's been acting kind of stalker-crazy since Suri left. It was like every time I turned around, she was there. And then when I was talking to Becky one day, I turned around and there she was right in my face." Jake explained. "She started saying crazy stuff about how Becky was a slut and that she was going to just get pregnant and drop out of school."  
Chance looked confused. "Who's Becky?"

"One of the JV cheerleaders." Jake looked innocent.

Chance laughed loudly. "You're talking to a cheerleader and you didn't even tell me? Did you get her number?"

"Yeah." Jake looked uncomfortable. "But it's not a big deal. She just wants me to fix her computer for her."

Chance shrugged. "So? Think of it as a good opportunity to find out what she likes. Maybe you can ask her if she wants to see a movie. I could take you." He reached for his pint of sweet and sour shrimp.

"I dunno." Jake jabbed at his lo-mein with a chopstick. He looked down at the pictures spread out on the coffee table. "What if this isn't someone just playing a prank? I don't want to get anyone else killed."

"I tell ya what." Chance plucked out a piece of breaded shrimp and swirled it around the tangy sauce. "I'll turn the pictures into the Enforcers, and we'll just keep an eye out for anything weird. In the meantime..." He ate the tiny shellfish. "Just have a good time. Well..." Chance glared. "Not _too_ good of a good time."

"Trust me, Chance." Jake smirked. "If anyone needs that lecture, it's you."

* * *

_**I hope that you followed the link at the top of the page. And I hope you liked this chapter. **_

_**NK  
**_


	4. Chapter 4

Jake tossed his cell phone from one paw to another as he tried to determine the best approach. "Hey Becky. I was just wondering when you wanted me to check out your computer." He paused to glare at his reflection in the mirror attached to his closet door. "No. That sounds stupid." He shot Charlie a look. "So are you gonna be at the game on Thursday?" She tilted her head curiously. "What am I thinking? Of course she's going to be there." Jake flopped down on his bed with a groan. Charlie licked the paw holding the phone. "Yeah I got it. Just call her and get it over with." He slid open his phone and found her number. Just when he was sure no one was going to answer, her effervescent tone filled his ears with a cheery 'hello'.

"H-hey Becky." Jake chuckled nervously. "Um... so what's up?"

"Oh nothing. Just trying to do this math homework." He could almost hear her rolling her eyes. "It's just so hard! And I'm pretty sure I'm never going to need it."

Jake fought the urge to tell her all the places simplifying fractions would come in handy. "Yeah. That kind of sucks. So... when, uh... when did you want me to fix your computer for you? I'm not doing anything Saturday and..." He trailed off when he heard someone shouting in the background. "What was that?"

"Ugh!" Becky loudly proclaimed. "My grandmother. She's kind of dense. Hang on."

Jake winced as Becky shouted a loud "WHAT?" that reverberated around his skull. It was followed up with "I'M ON THE PHONE!" and then "I SAID THAT I AM ON THE PHONE!"

"Okay." Becky's voice returned to it's usual bubbly happy calm. "So Saturday, huh? Sounds good to me. You wanna be here around one?"

"I can do that." Jake felt his confidence return. "It probably won't take me long. Do you think you'd be able to go see a movie with me after?"

"I will need to ask my grandmother." Becky replied. "She usually doesn't care what I do as long as..." There was another shout in the background. "Hey I gotta go. Will I see you at school tomorrow?"

"Yeah. I'll see ya." Jake replied. "Bye." He slid his phone shut and rolled his head to look at Charlie. "That wasn't so bad." He looked at the time. It was almost five. Chance had at least another hour before he would close the shop, and he really didn't feel like doing his homework yet. "I guess I could clean my room." Jake looked around his messy abode. "Or not." He sighed and turned to look at his keyboard, on its stand at the end of his bed where his laptop was currently resting.

* * *

Chance finished sweeping up the garage and then headed upstairs after double checking the locks. His eyes immediately fell on the dishes in the sink. Jake had clearly made some pizza rolls after school and had left the evidence behind. He opened the freezer and pulled out a pack of chicken. Then he popped it in the microwave and mashed the 'defrost' button. While it thawed out, Chance decided to go check on the resident teenager. As he neared Jake's room, he heard what sounded like an attempt to play the piano by someone who didn't really know what they were doing. Cringing at the off-key sounds, Chance pushed open the door.

"God damn it!" Jake swore, pressing several keys at once with enough force to make a terribly loud sound.

"Hey!" Chance proclaimed.

"Sorry." Jake looked sheepish. He had his headphones halfway on, but they obviously weren't connected to the keyboard.

"New piece?" Chance didn't think Mr. Spieker would hand out something new until after the concert on Wednesday. And he didn't see any music.

"No." Jake sounded sullen.

"Trying to play one from memory?"

"Not exactly." Jake sighed. "More like trying to learn one by ear. You know, there's kats in my music class that can do this so quickly, you'd think it was easy."

"Yeah well... you're already good at a hundred different things, if you can't master one, I don't think anyone's going to be upset over it." Chance looked amused. "You wanna work on your homework in the kitchen while I make us some food?"

"How do you know it isn't already done?" Jake gave him a suspicious leer.

"Because your book bag is still zipped up by the door." Chance pointed down and to his left.

"Right. Yeah. Sure. Why not?" Jake slid off the bed. "So, you think you can take me over to Becky's house on Saturday?"

"You called her?" Chance's eyebrows lifted.

"Yeah." Jake shrugged nonchalantly. "I'm going to fix her computer. And I asked if, you know, it didn't take too long, if she wanted to go to a movie."

"Blake and Melissa are going to be here." Chance reminded. "They won't be here in time for your game Thursday, but he will definitely be here on Saturday."

"Yeah." Jake picked up his backpack and followed Chance to the kitchen. "He's been talking to one of her friends so maybe she could bring her or something. Hey!" His eyes lit up. "Then you could just drop us off at the movies and you and Melissa could, I dunno... have extra-loud sex when I'm _not_ around so I don't have to hear it."

Chance felt the tips of his ears burn. "You aren't trying to get on my good side, are you?"

"All I'm saying is that no cable and having to watch old movies on VHS is starting to sound appealing to both me _and_ Blake." Jake dropped into one of the kitchen chairs. "You are wearing protection aren't you?"

"Listen to you." Chance rolled his eyes. "Like you know what you're talking about. That's cute. Good to know you paid attention in that sex ed class last year. What do you want with this chicken?"

"Can you fry it the way Rita does?" Jake asked, looking hopeful.

"I can do it better than she does." Chance bragged.

"I doubt that." Jake chuckled.

"You just do your homework. Let me handle this." Chance pulled a pint of buttermilk out of the refrigerator. "Talking like mom's the only kat that knows how to cook anything."

* * *

Not only was Jake performing with the orchestra as piano accompaniment, but he had a solo performance, as did the section leaders. Mr. Spieker was intent on showcasing the talent that the school would be overlooking if funding was cut from the arts department. Chance found that he was beginning to like the classical stuff. "I really wish they'd take some of that money they want to put towards the new gym to fix this auditorium." Rita complained quietly as she sat beside her son in one of the old folding wooden chairs. Chance eyed some graffiti on the back of the seat in front of him. "No kidding? You think Jamie still loves Ashley?"

Rita sat her purse in her lap. "I'm sure he does." She held out the program to Chance. "Did you see him in that tuxedo? I swear, I don't know how you aren't having to pry the girls off him."

Chance chuckled. "There's something to be said about confidence, and I don't think Jake's realized his potential as a heart-breaker yet."

There was a change in the manner in which Jake performed. Chance had noticed the slow transformation from the last school year to the present one. He seemed more focused and yet more relaxed at the same time. His posture was better, but less rigid, and there was a fluidity in the way his paws seemed to dance across the keys. Graceful. It wasn't a word Chance would have used in the past to describe the young tom. Even throughout his martial arts, 'graceful' just wasn't there. 'Intense'? Definitely. 'Lethal'? Well, actions spoke louder than words. But it had seemed more like someone had taught him a trick rather than having given him something to be proud of. What was more was how he seemed to have lost himself in the art. When had Jake started actually putting his heart into it? Chance certainly wasn't the only one who noticed. He could see it in the orchestra director's facial expression; a slightly lopsided grin, a half attempt to remain serious and nonchalant. It wasn't even a piece that hadn't been heard before. Moonlight Sonata. One of the most commonly played. Jake's eyes were closed as he drew the final notes from the finely crafted instrument and seemed genuinely surprised at the amount of enthusiasm in the applause. Chance beamed proudly at him as he stood and clapped, his eyes locking with Jake's and pulling a shy smile from the teen.

"That was absolutely beautiful, Jake." Rita purred, giving Jake a quick peck on the cheek.

"Thanks." Jake blushed, looking around to make sure none of his classmates had seen it. "Where'd Chance go?"

"Oh, he went to have a word with your teacher before we left and he got sucked into that meeting. I really hope this performance helped changed the school boards perspective. There was just so much talent on one small stage." Rita clicked her tongue. "It would just be a shame to see something like this suffer."

Jake bit his lip. "What if..." He lowered his voice. "What if the school was to receive an anonymous donation?"

"Jake..." Rita lowered her voice as well. "That's very sweet of you, but are you sure you want to do something like that?"

"Don't tell Chance." Jake looked embarrassed. "But I kind of like playing the piano. And I guess I'd be pretty disappointed if I wasn't able to."

"Oh please." Rita huffed. "As if Chance is that oblivious. He's the one with control over your trust fund, sweetie. If you want to do this, you need to talk to him about it."

"Right." Jake chewed his bottom lip nervously.

Chance caught up with Jake and Rita in the hallway outside the auditorium. "Ready to grab some dinner?" He couldn't stop himself brushing some fur off the back of Jake's jacket. "I figured, since we're all already dressed nice, we'd eat some place nice."

"Now why would I turn down dinner with the two best looking toms in the entire city?" Rita hooked her arm through Jake's.

"Only the city?" Chance pouted.

"I'm not about to be the one to inflate your ego." Rita swatted her son.

Once in the car, Jake removed his bow tie and loosened the top button on his white dress shirt, bringing his state of dress down to a slightly more casual level, and a little more on par with Chance and Rita. His phone vibrated within his pocket.

_You played beautifully tonight_

It was a text from Miranda. "Odd," Jake thought. "I don't even remember seeing her."

_Thanks_ He texted back. _Can't talk. Having dinner._ Before he could get the phone back into his pocket, it buzzed with response.

_In the car?_

Jake chose not to respond. Instead, he pocketed his phone and ignored the occasional vibration he felt against his thigh. By the time they got to the restaurant, he'd gotten so irritated at his 'friend' that he'd had to turn his phone off.

"So are you going to tell Chance what you're thinking about doing?" Rita pried, noticing Jake was just sort of moving a piece of potato around his plate with his fork.

"Hm?" Jake looked up. "What am I doing about what?"

"What you told me at the school tonight, sweetie." Rita chuckled.

"Oh." Jake cleared his throat and looked up at Chance, who was giving him a funny look. "What?"

"Something bothering you?" Chance nodded down at the barely touched meal.

"No. Well yeah but... I'll tell you about it tonight." Jake shook his head. "How would you feel about withdrawing a couple thousand out of my account?"  
Chance's eyes widened and he nearly choked. "For what?"

"Well, considering the position the arts program at my school was in, I thought that, even if they could sway the opinions of the school board, maybe they could use a little extra." Jake returned his focus to his plate. "You know, like an anonymous donation kind of thing."

"Are you sure that's what you want to do?" Chance furrowed his brow.

"Come on, Chance." Jake looked back up. "You've seen the bank statements. What am I going to use that money for? I mean, there's enough to pay back the damage to Enforcer headquarters twice and still live comfortably without ever having to work. Plus, a lot of it is so well-invested that it's just going to keep building. It just seems kind of greedy and wasteful to keep hording it away when there are organizations that could really use it."

Chance shared a look with Rita. "Alright. You name the amount and I'll set it up."

"And you know..." Jake seemed to finally have regained his appetite as he started to cut a piece off his small steak. "While you're at it, see if you can find someone to finish the renovations on Grammy Furlong's house."

Rita nearly choked on her Chablis. "Now Jacob, you don't need to go spending your money on that old place." She scolded.

"No but I figured we would probably be there for Christmas. And there's no heat other than the fireplace. I'm not really fond of being cold, and it seems like it would be more energy efficient to just have a heating and air system installed rather than running all those window units or the little electric heaters." Jake explained, taking a bite of food. "We are going there for Christmas, right? Because you told Chance's Aunt Mable that we would visit her again. And I figured that, since Chance and Melissa were getting so close, he'd want to spend the holiday with her."

"Well I was thinking about it, but I hadn't set anything in stone yet." Rita looked thoughtful. "That might not be such a bad idea. If anything, it would help keep that house standing for another century. So long as whoever you get to do it runs the plans by me."

Dinner ended soon thereafter and Chance dropped Rita off before driving himself and Jake back home.

"I'll let Charlie out. You get ready for bed." Chance couldn't believe how tired he was. And it was only ten at night. Still, he hadn't meant to keep Jake out so late. He'd been trying to get the teen in bed earlier, hoping that more sleep would stop the skull-splitting headaches. After about fifteen minutes of waiting on the dog and telling her to leave stuff alone, Chance was following her back up the stairs and into the house. Jake was at the table with his head buried in his arms.

"You plan on sleeping there?" Chance teased.

Jake looked up. "If I do?"  
"You'll regret it tomorrow." Chance took one of the chairs and turned it backwards, straddling it. "Alright kiddo. What's bugging you?"

Jake took a deep breath and slid his phone across the table.

Chance picked it up, noticing that it was off. "Did you break it?"

"Nope." Jake leaned back in his chair. "Turn it on."

Chance pressed the power button and waited. The start-up music chimed and then a generic red art deco background filled up the screen. "Okay. So what's the..." He was cut off by Jake's annoying text message alert starting and then stopping as it started again for a total of 12 times. "Wow." They were all from Miranda. Chance opened the message inbox and slowly began reading them. Some said things like 'are you there' or 'did you get my last message'. There was another that asked 'who are you with?' Chance sighed loudly. "Alright. Here's what you need to do." He handed the phone back to Jake. "Try to let her down gently. You know, explain to her that she can't send you messages like that, but be nice."

"And if she doesn't get the hint?" Jake frowned.

"I'll have a talk with her parents." Chance looked sympathetic. "In the meantime, keep your phone off at night that way she can't send you crazy texts while you're sleeping."

Jake nodded his head. "Okay."

Chance stood up and squeezed him on the arm. "You need to get to bed."

Jake stood up and started to leave the kitchen.

"Hey Jake."

The teen looked over his shoulder. "Yeah?"

"You were really something tonight. Even Matt, your teacher, he said so." Chance said proudly.

"Thanks Chance." Jake smiled brightly.

* * *

"Hey." Miranda was all smiles as she approached Jake. "You didn't answer me last night?"

"No." Jake shifted the straps on his backpack and then shoved his paws into his jeans pockets. "I was spending time with my family. It seemed kind of rude to keep paying attention to my phone."

"Your family?" Miranda chuckled. "That's really sweet of you Jake, but they aren't your family."

"Why do you say that?" Jake tipped his head up just enough to meet her eyes.

"What do you mean?" Miranda shook her head. "You know they aren't your family."

"Why? Because they aren't biologically related to me?" Jake felt like he'd just been stabbed. "That has nothing to do with it." He shook his head. "Look, I don't care if you send me a message every now and then, but you can't just repeatedly text me like that. Especially when it isn't even important."

"Don't be such a kitten, Jake." Miranda huffed. "Sheesh. You're so sensitive." She turned and stalked off.

Jake clenched his fists and fought the sudden urge to strangle her. "Not gonna ruin your day," he told himself. "Just make it through until three and think about the game." He looked out one of the side doors at the beautiful, sunny morning. "No headache. Got plenty of sleep. Definitely not going to have a bad day today."

* * *

The sound of two bodies colliding with bone crushing force echoed throughout the high school stadium. Chance was on his feet the moment his boy went down on the sidelines. "Get up!" He wanted to scream. A ref blew his whistle, shouting something about an illegal use of helmet and a penalty against the opposing team.

"Go see if he's alright?" Rita told her son. "You can get down there faster than I can."

Chance nodded and jogged down the concrete and metal steps. By the time he reached the chain link fence surrounding the field, Jake was sitting up but gasping for breath.

"What happened?" Chance demanded.

Coach Simmons looked up and jogged over to the concerned parent. "Took a helmet to the gut. I'm pretty sure he's just winded." He looked far more upset than he sounded. Jake managed to get to his feet, cradling his arm around his abdomen. "Hey kiddo."

Jake swung his head to look at Chance.

"You good?"

The corner of Jake's mouth turned up in a smile. "I'm good."

"Good." Chance reached over the gate and slapped him on the shoulder.

Jake didn't get played the rest of the game, which was just fine in his opinion. They were losing anyway and hadn't managed to gain much yardage anytime they had the ball. When the game was over, he caught up with Becky.

"So did you ask your grandmother about Saturday?" He asked.

Becky, who hadn't given him more than a couple of glances during the game, put her paws on her hips and gave him the most disbelieving look she could manage. "What do you take me for, Jake Furlong?"

"What do I what?" Jake furrowed his brow.

"You asked me out on a date and then you already have a girlfriend?" Becky picked up her pom poms.

"I don't have a girlfriend." Jake wondered if maybe she'd been tackled instead.

"That's not what _your girlfriend_ said." Becky hissed.

"Who did?" Jake had a feeling he already knew.

"Miranda Steele." Becky practically stomped her foot. "She even showed me a picture of you two together."

"I should have known." Jake groaned. "I don't know what her problem is, Becky. But I swear she isn't my girlfriend. At this point, I don't even want to be just friends with her."

"She told me to stay away from you. That you were off limits." Becky hissed.

"Okay. How about I go get my phone and you can stand right here while I call her and hear me ask why she's lying?" Jake asked.

Becky looked like she might just agree but then she sighed. "If I had more time to stick around here, then I would. But I have to hurry up so I don't miss my ride home."

"I swear I'm telling the truth." Jake pleaded.

"Alright. We can go to the movies on Saturday. But you're going to tell her to back off." Becky replied. "I'll see you at school tomorrow."

"Where's my phone?" Jake asked as soon as he caught up with Chance and Rita.

"In my pocket." Chance arched an eyebrow at the tone. "Why?"

"Apparently Miranda told Becky that she's my girlfriend and that she needed to stay away from me." Jake held out his paw.

Against his better judgment, Chance gave the teen the device. Miranda seemed to answer immediately. "Put it on speaker," he mouthed. Jake nodded.

"Oh hey Jake! How was the game?" Miranda asked innocently.

"You don't know? I assumed you were there." Jake asked.

"No. I'm not really a fan of sports." He could envision her doing her claws or something while she was on the phone.

"Did you say something to Becky?" Jake cut straight to the point.

"I might have spoken to her today. Why?"

"Why'd you tell her that you're my girlfriend?"

Miranda sighed loudly. "Listen Jake. Becky's cute and all but she's bad news. You really don't need a girl with her reputation."

"The only one saying bad things about her is you." Jake reminded.

"Everyone else is just being nice. You're way better off without her." Miranda chuckled.

"Okay. Look just leave her alone. And whatever pictures you have of us together that you're showing off, just throw them away or something."

"Don't you think you're being a little ungrateful?"

Jake narrowed his eyes at his phone. "Miranda, I'm telling you to leave it alone."

"Oh whatever. Jeez. _Fine_. I won't talk to your slutty little girlfriend." She hung up.

"You know." Jake was still staring at his phone when they got to the car. "I always thought having two she-kats fighting over me would be kind of hot."

"It helps when one of them isn't crazy." Chance replied as he held open the door for his mother. 


	5. Chapter 5

"So... we've got half an hour before the movie starts." Jake couldn't believe Chance just dropped them off at the mall and was going to let them see the movie alone. "What are we doing?"

"Hey does your mall have one of those nasty stores that has all the weird stuff in it?" Blake asked excitedly.

"Yeah." Jake laughed. "Are you sure you can handle that sort of thing? It's a lot more to take in than your little general store."

"Whatever. You're the innocent one, city boy." Blake teased as he looped his arm around the waist of Becky's friend Jessica.

Jake shared a look with Becky before leading the way to the popular store. Rock music beckoned from within and the front display was already set for Halloween. There was a sign in the window with she-kats wearing skimpy costumes.

"So what are you going to dress up as, Jessica?" Blake waggled his eyebrows at her. She giggled. "Because I kind of like that little devil one."

"My grandmother would explode if she found out I was in this store." Becky whispered.

"It's not all bad. They have belts and hats." Jake pointed over to a wall full of jewelry and studded wrist cuffs.

"So um... what are you dressing up as for Halloween?" Becky asked, picking up a purple studded belt.

"I wasn't planning on it." Jake could hear Blake loudly proclaim something about candy bras and shook his head.

"Oh." Becky looked sideways. "So you aren't going to the dance then?"

"What dance?"

Becky chuckled. "Well, since Halloween is on a Friday this year, the school is having a themed dance for the freshmen and sophomores. Since, you know, we don't get the prom like everyone else."

"Are you going?" Jake's eyes landed on a studded collar. "Hey put this on."

Becky looked at the long spikes broken up by flat square studs with disgust but put it on anyway. "Well, if no one asks me to go then I guess I'm not going." She stood on her toes to see her reflection. "I could be goth."

"You're too happy." Jake held out his paw for the jewelry. "Do you wanna go?"

"Are you asking if I just want to go or if I want to go with you?" Becky unsnapped it.

"Well... both I guess. I mean, if you don't want to go, there's no point in asking you want to go with me." Jake nervously knocked over several other items in his attempt to hang the choker back up. "Sorry." He shot the clerk a grin before picking up what he dropped.

"You aren't getting out that easily. You have to actually ask me." Becky huffed, crossing her arms and looking away.

"Okay." Jake cleared his throat. "Would you...uh... would you like to go to the Halloween dance with me?"

"I'd be delighted to." Becky smiled.

"Sweet." Jake smiled back. The moment was broken by a loud 'slap' followed by a shriek. They both looked up to see Blake wielding a fuchsia riding crop and Jessica with her paws on her backside.

"Let's go before they get us kicked out of here." Jake chuckled.

"Hey we'll catch up with you." Blake said.

"Yeah. Just don't be late for the movie." Jake rolled his eyes. "We aren't saving you two seats."

He felt Becky slip her paw into his as they left the store. "So this dance... what's the theme?"

"1980's." Becky replied.

"Okay." Jake nodded his head. "So... where do you want to go?"

Becky bit her lip shyly. "The arcade?"

Jake grinned broadly. "I bet I can kick your tail at some DDR."

"Um hello. Cheerleader." Becky rolled her eyes while pointing at herself.

"That doesn't mean anything." Jake teased. "Remember? I've got mad ninja skills."

* * *

"I thought you told _us_ not to be late for the movie?" Blake shoved Jake. "And here you two kittens are playing video games."

"What was that about kicking my tail?" Becky leaped off the platform.

"I let you win." Jake smirked.

"Sure you did." Becky laughed. "Come on. I don't want to miss the previews."

The movie they had all agreed upon had already been showing for a few weeks so the theater was mostly empty. Blake led the way to a back corner. Jessica sat on the far inside, then Blake and Jake, and Becky on the outside. Right away, Blake started whispering things in Jessica's ear that had her stifling giggles. Jake shook his head and looked at Becky. "I'm sorry he's so immature."

Becky rolled her eyes. "You sure it's your friend and not mine?" She leaned against him. "You can put the arm rest up, you know. I won't bite."

"You sure?" Jake teased.

"Mostly." Becky laughed and lifted the armrest. "There. Now you can relax and put your arm around me like a normal date and..."

bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzt

"What the hell was that?" Jake turned just as Blake pressed something hard against the back of his neck. He jerked away from whatever had just both tickled and disturbed him. "You bought a vibrator?"

Blake and Jessica burst into laughter. "Ugh!" He rubbed the back of his neck. "And you touched me with it? You're so gay!"

"Jessica." Becky hissed. "You two aren't gonna... you know... use it, are you?"

When she didn't answer right away, Becky grabbed Jake's arm. "You wanna move seats so they can be alone?"

"Yeah. I'm not getting kicked out with them." Jake chuckled. "You kits play nice." When Jessica and Blake left not even halfway through the movie, all Jake and Becky could do was look at each other with shock and disgust before dissolving into nearly unstoppable laughter.

"You think they're really... you know?" Jake whispered when their friends had been gone for more than ten minutes.

"I don't know. Jessica told me that, last year, she gave someone head in the back of a school bus." Becky crinkled her nose.

"Nuh uh." Jake's jaw dropped.

Becky nodded her head. "She's crazy."

"What...um..." He felt his cheeks burn. "What about you? You've never done anything like that, have you?"

"Well... one time, on a dare... I made out with this boy in a closet." Becky ducked her head. "Have you ever done anything like that?"  
Jake bit his lip. "Kind of. My girlfriend moved away last year and I stole the car to see her because I didn't get to tell her bye. Her dad called the cops and busted down the door."

"You weren't...?"  
"What?" Jake looked perplexed.

"You know..."

"Oh." Jake shook his head. "No. I think,um... think that's more Blake and Jessica's field of expertise."

On cue, Blake returned to his seat, followed by Jessica, whose top was buttoned wrong and her hair was no longer in a neat little ponytail.

Jake and Becky shared another look before returning their attention to the movie.

* * *

Chance slid open a drawer on his night stand to see if he still had the charger to his old phone. Melissa's was dying and she'd forgotten to bring hers. "What the hell?" He pulled out the open box of condoms.

"What's wrong?" Melissa was admiring how one of Chance's shirts hung off her not-as-delicate-as-it-used-to-be frame.

"This was a brand new box. Not opened or anything." Chance had half a mind to storm into the living room where the boys had been playing video games and rip Jake a new one.

Melissa's tail swished angrily and she reached for Chance's belt. "Oh that boy isn't going to be able to sit for a week." She was halfway out the door when Chance pulled her back.

"Wait." He couldn't help but chuckle. "Mel. You're wearing nothing but one of my shirts. You can't go around beating kittens dressed like that."

"Well then I guess I'm just going to have to get dressed."

"Aw." Chance pouted. "Don't ruin this for me. You look so hot right now."

"I'm 35." Melissa frowned. "That isn't in my repertoire anymore."

"Are you kidding me?" Chance pulled her back towards the bed and ran his paws down her sides, resting them on her hips. "We'll just corner them over breakfast." He sat on the bed and pulled her onto his lap.

* * *

Blake barely even registered anyone walking into the room when Chance sat on the arm of the couch.

"Where's Jake?"

The teen looked up from his game for just a brief second before looking back. "He said something about his head hurting."

Chance looked at the time. It was still pretty early. "How long ago was that?"

Blake narrowed his eyes. "I dunno. Like a couple hours ago or something." There was a hint of an attitude in his voice that made Chance want to slap him, but he refrained.

"Alright. I'll just leave you alone." Chance stood up and went to Jake's room. He knocked softly on the door before opening it. "Hey kiddo."

Jake was lying on his stomach, face buried into his pillow. The window was open, letting in the cool night air. And Charlie was lying across the back of Jake's lower legs.

"Blake said something about you having a headache."

Jake mumbled something into his pillow as he rolled his head to look at Chance as the tabby sat on the edge of his bed.

"Say what?" Chance chuckled lightly.

"Something like that." Jake's voice was quiet. He was squinting as if even the dark was too bright.

Instinctively, Chance rested his palm on Jake's forehead and moved it backward, scratching as he went.

"No fever." Chance kept his voice low too. "If you don't mind going to sleep kind of early, I've got some of the good stuff."

Jake breathed into his pillowcase. "Works for me," he mumbled. Chance left and then returned several minutes later with two pills and a glass of water.

"You're going to the doctor." Chance said after Jake had taken the painkillers.

"Over a headache, Chance?" Jake somehow managed to whine without raising his voice.

"Yep." Chance pulled the covers out from under the teen with ease. "There's a few other things I wanna ask about too. But the headaches are the main thing." Then he shut the window.

Jake kicked off his jeans and pulled the sheets up. Charlie nudged his arm so that she could get under the blankets as well. Chance picked up the discarded clothing and started to toss them in the basket.

"My stuff's still in my pockets. If you do that, I'm gonna end up washing them." Jake warned before burying himself completely under the pillows and blankets, hoping to drown out any lights or sounds.

Chance shook his head as he emptied the pockets of a cell phone, candy wrappers, ticket stubs, a few arcade tokens and a leather biker wallet with flames on it. Curious, he quietly unsnapped it and opened it up. Inside were Jake's school ID and library card, a discount card for a used CD shop and some cash. He didn't know whether to be relieved or even more worried. Exhaling slowly, Chance sat Jake's wallet down on his dresser, turned off his phone, and tossed the jeans into the basket.

"Goodnight, kiddo." He said on his way out, leaving the door cracked so that Charlie could leave if she wanted.

* * *

Jake hated taking anything that put him to sleep because of the dry, uncomfortable sticky feeling it left in his mouth. There was still a dull ache in his head and he felt stiff, as if he'd slept in one awkward position all night. There was a peculiar smell drifting into his room accompanied by the sound of laughter.

"Aw. Give her a piece of bacon, Chance." He heard Melissa say.

"No. Jeez. I yell at Jake for giving her table scraps all the time and here you are trying to feed her before we even get any of it." Chance laughed.

Jake pushed himself up, glaring at the lines of bright sunlight stretching across his bed. He hated blinds. They didn't really do any good. Shaking his head to try and clear the fog, he forced himself to get out of bed. Sometime during the night, he'd abandoned his t-shirt and, as he reached for the door to open it, he realized that he should probably put on something more than just his boxers.

Chance had just put a tray of pop-n-fresh biscuits in the oven when he saw Jake open the refrigerator. "Good afternoon." He teased.

"What the hell did you give me?" Jake glared, holding the carton of milk as he went for a glass.

"I still had some of those painkillers from where you broke your arm." Chance shrugged. "Did it help?"  
"Aside from knocking me out for almost fourteen hours?" Jake looked at the time. It was almost one. "Mostly. My head's still kind of hurting but now that might be from too much sleep." He was halfway to the table with the carton of milk after putting the glass in the fridge.

"Uh... Jake..." Chance gave the teen an amused laugh.

"Shit." Jake cursed and backtracked. "_This_ is why I hate that stuff. It liquefies my brain."

They had to do a little rearranging to make room for four kats at the kitchen table but somehow managed. Jake sat across from Blake while Melissa sat across from Chance. Jake couldn't help the small laugh at how it felt like they were playing house.

"Dude." Blake kicked him under the table. "Why are you laughing?"

"I dunno." Jake shook his head. "Just ignore me."

"Good. Because I was going to anyway." Blake smirked before digging into his eggs. "This is great, Mom."

Melissa chuckled. "You can thank Chance. I didn't make any of this."

Blake gave his mother's boyfriend a surprised look.

"Nice job, Betty Crocker." Blake teased.

Jake snorted. "You have no idea." He quickly polished off his bacon and was using his biscuit to mop up the egg yolk. Melissa sat down her fork with a soft 'clink' against the china and looked back and forth between the boys.

"Are you two having sex?"

Jake felt the spongy egg and biscuit become lodged in his throat. He coughed and choked until it cleared his airways and then glared at Melissa. "Are we what?" Did she really just ask that?

Blake gave his mother the most appalled look he could manage. "With each other? _Mom_!"

"Don't you start with me. You know damn well what I mean!" Melissa slammed her paw down on the table.

Jake's eyes widened and he shook his head. "I'm not going down for this." He pointed his fork at Blake. "You're on your own."

"I didn't do anything." Blake huffed. "You're the one who took off with Becky while we were waiting on the movie."

"We were at the arcade. You know this. I've got leftover tokens to prove it." Jake folded his arms over his chest. "What was the first half of the movie about?"

"It was about this girl... and a house... and there was this... what?" Blake flinched at the lethal look in his mother's eyes. "I don't have to explain myself to you."

Jake pushed away from the table. "I'm done. I can't watch this."

"Blake." Melissa's voice dropped to an icy tone. "When you're eighteen, then you don't ever have to explain yourself to me again. But you're going to be sixteen in a few months. That means you've got just over two years where you still have to answer to me."

Jake gave Chance a quick look before taking his plate to the sink. "Come on Charlie." He grabbed his shoes, her leash and opened the door.

"Did you have sex with that girl?" Melissa asked again.

"If I did?" Blake tilted his head up so that he was looking down his nose at her.

"You barely know her!" Melissa couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"Who the hell are you to say anything about it?" Blake bit back. "You aren't exactly setting a good example." Melissa's paw forcefully wiped the satisfied smirk off her son's face.

"You shut your damn mouth." Melissa hissed. "You aren't an adult. You're a spoiled, petulant little kitten, and you're being completely disrespectful." She stood up. "Go get your stuff together."

Blake was still scowling at her for slapping him.

"If you don't get off your tail and do what I tell you, I'm going to slap you again." Melissa hissed. "Go."

Blake sucked his teeth as he stood up and left the kitchen.

"I am so sorry." Melissa put her head into her paws. "He thinks he's grown and can do whatever he wants." She sighed. "Am I wrong for being angry? What if it was Jake?"

Chance scrunched his nose. "I think I'd be pretty ticked too, but, I dunno." He shrugged. "I feel like I'd be a hypocrite for being upset when I did the same thing."

Melissa blinked in shock. "You didn't."

Chance scratched the back of his head. "Heh."

"When you were fifteen?" Melissa whispered.

"Fourteen, actually." Chance cleared his throat.

"Oh my god." Melissa groaned. "So this Jessica girl probably wasn't the first one, huh?"  
Chance bit his lip and looked away.

"Son of a bitch."

He laughed. "Don't kill him, Mel. He's a tom. We rarely ever think with the right head when it comes to you she-kats."

"No kidding."

* * *

Jake was coming back in the gate when he heard Melissa's car door slam shut. He shot Chance a look before waving to her before she got in the driver's side. "Am I in trouble?"

"For what?" Chance asked, watching Melissa's car leave the lot.

"I don't know." Jake looked worried.

"Not unless you're secretly messing around with your girlfriend." Chance smirked.

Jake shook his head.

"Then you're not in trouble." Chance laughed.  
"Good." Jake let out a relieved breath. "Because I kind of asked Becky to this thing at school and it would really suck to not be able to go because Blake got me in trouble for something I didn't do."

"What thing at school?" Chance's ears perked up.

"Uh..." Jake looked away. "Just this... you know... dance thing. It's not even for another few weeks."

Chance grinned broadly before palming Jake's head and giving it a rough shake.

* * *

Jake looked at the time in the corner of his gaming device and puffed out a breath in frustration. First period was nearing it's end and he was still sitting in a crowded hospital waiting room, and it wasn't even the emergency room. His ears tipped backwards at the shrill cry of a kitten and that was all he needed to plug in his headphones. Just as he was about to slip them in his ears, a short, chubby she-kat shouted 'FURLONG' from the door leading out of the waiting area.

After thoroughly being weighed and measured, Jake was ushered into a boring hospital exam room and told to wait for the doctor. He shot a frustrated glare at Chance, holding out his paw for his game. "I'm going to be really pissed off if I missed my hardest class just to be told there's nothing they can do."

Chance sighed and handed Jake the device. "I can't do anything about the wait. I made an appointment."

"Why couldn't we just go to the clinic Rita works at?" Jake sulked.

"She said she couldn't do any of the tests you would need." Chance shrugged and settled into the hard-backed chair against the wall, leaving the teen to sit on the exam gurney.

"So you're getting headaches?" The doctor asked once he'd finally got to them.

Jake nodded, suddenly nervous.

"How often?"

"Um..." Jake bit the inside of his cheek. "Sometimes it's everyday. And then sometimes it's just four and five times a week."

The doctor furrowed his brow. "How severe?"

"That kind of varies too." Jake hated being under the microscope.

"Alright." He pulled out a pen light and shined it into the teen's eyes and then ears. "What I'm going to do is have some blood taken. Your blood pressure was normal so it isn't likely stress."

"Hey doc." Chance cleared his throat. "He hasn't really been gaining any weight. I don't know if that's something I should be worried about or if it's related to the headaches."

"How do you mean?" The doctor turned his focus to the tabby.

"Well he started playing ball this year and wanted to put on a little muscle so that he wasn't the smallest kit on the team. And, I mean he's got a little definition on his arms but that's it." Chance was standing now and gesturing to Jake's arms as an example.

"It could be related." The doctor looked curious as he looked back at the measurements the nurse had taken. "You are a little on the thin side for your age and height. At 5'4" you should weight at least 130. You're just a hair above 5'3"." He circled the 112 the nurse had written down. "I'll be right back to get some of your blood."

Jake impatiently drummed his claws against the edge of bed. He was just about to get to his feet and start pacing when the doctor returned. He eyed the large needle suspiciously. "How much are you planning on taking?"

The doctor cracked a sly smile. "No more than a pint."

Jake couldn't manage to cover up the hiss of pain as the needle was stuck into the crook of his arm. He watched with sick fascination as the syringe took away a portion of one of the body's most vital liquids. "So... how long is this gonna take?"

The doctor arched an eyebrow as he bandaged the injection spot. "Don't tell me there's a teenager that's actually anxious to go to school."

Chance couldn't help but snort in amusement. "You have no idea."

"Hmm." The doctor chuckled. "Well this shouldn't take more than another hour. I will be back before you know it."

Nearly an hour and a half passed before the doctor returned. He apologized for making them wait as he rolled a stool over and sat on it. "It would appear that you have a little bit of a vitamin deficiency."

"You sure about that, doc?" Chance asked, looking a bit put off. "Because as far as balanced diets go, I stay on top of him about not eating junk and eating his vegetables."

"No kidding." Jake frowned.

"I'm positive. But I doubt it has anything to do with your diet." The doctor gave Jake an assessing look. "From your records, it looks like your height and weight hasn't fluctuated much in the last two years. That doesn't really make a whole lot of sense. It's almost as if your body just sort of got stuck once you hit puberty, and I have a pretty good idea why." He folded his arms over his chest, causing his white coat to wrinkle. "You know, I spend more time than I'd like to trying to explain to kats how to increase their metabolism. You appear to have the complete opposite problem. Your metabolism is just so fast that your body isn't getting the required nutrients for you to grow or gain any kind of weight or muscle mass. It's also why you're getting so many headaches."

"He's not gonna have to take any kind of steroids, is he?" Chance looked worried.

"Nope." The doctor stood up. "In fact, I really don't even need to write a prescription. Your blood work shows a significant b12 deficiency. You can get supplements for that anywhere."

"So that's it? Take vitamins?" Chance laughed.

"Pretty much." The doctor held out a slip of paper. "This should cover any classes you missed. You're good for the rest of the day if you decide to be a normal kit."

"Great." Jake took the excuse. "So how soon can I look forward to not qualifying for midget status and making it through the week without feeling like someone is trying to drill a hole in the side of my head?"

"Qualifying for midget status?" Chance arched an eyebrow.

Jake didn't reply.

"Well that depends. Don't expect to wake up tomorrow at almost six foot. I'll set you up an appointment for next month and we'll do this again." The doctor held open the door.

"Minus the vampire act?" Jake looked hopeful.

"Nah. I kind of like that part of my job." The doctor smiled. 


	6. Chapter 6

_"Guess the inside wasn't waterproof, 'ey T-Bone?" Razor said with a hint of laughter in his voice._

_"Looks like you got your edge back, Razor." T-Bone grinned._

Jake jerked awake with a startled gasp. He sat up in his bed, panting and searching the dark for some kind of reason. "It wasn't my fault." He reminded himself. "No one was hurt. I was set up. It wasn't my fault."

Charlie sensed the movement and jumped off the bed. She wagged her tail excitedly and went to the door. Forcefully swallowing against his dry throat, Jake got out of bed as well. He pulled open his door and quietly padded out of his room and into the kitchen. As he was filling a glass with water, Charlie went to the door and barked.

"Shh!" Jake hissed before opening it. He deactivated the alarm for the shop before following Charlie down the steps and letting her outside. The cool night air pulled a nearly violent shiver from his barely clothed body. "Hurry up." He told the dog, not bothering to whisper outside where Chance wasn't likely to hear him anyway. While Charlie ran out into the salvage yard, Jake leaned against the exterior wall of the building and let his eyes drift up to the cloudy night sky. It had been easy to regain his confidence when faced with the facts that he'd been tricked, but he couldn't seem to stop the flow of 'what-ifs' that were now plaguing his mind. Even as an Enforcer, the thought of injuring a civilian, an innocent bystander, never crossed his mind. It seemed unfathomable. Now that he was faced with the real potential of how dangerous the weapons he created were, he wasn't as comfortable wielding them.

Jake was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't hear the approaching footsteps and he was so startled when Chance touched his arm that he let out an absurdly kitten-like shriek and leaped several feet away. "Chance?" He squeaked. "What are you doing up?"

Chance's glare was full of curiosity and concern. "What am _I_ doing up? I should be asking you the same thing. More importantly." He looked the teen up and down. "What are you doing outside at three in the morning in your underwear?"

"Uh..." Jake looked down. "Well I..." He heard the sound of Charlie's paws on the gravel as she ran back towards the shop. "I got up and she wanted out so I just..." He trailed off.

Chance's tail swished impatiently. He waited for Jake to finish the thought but it never happened. Heaving a tired sigh, he pulled open the door and gestured for the teen to go inside. Charlie brushed past and trotted up the stairs, looking back for her master. Chance locked everything back up as he went and reset the alarm before shutting the front door to their home and locking it.

"Sit." He told Jake in an unusually quiet tone.

Slightly unnerved, Jake sat in one of the chairs at the small kitchen table. He shivered again as the cold floor beneath the pads on his bare feet reinforced the fact that the temperature was far cooler than it had been lately and he wasn't wearing nearly enough clothing. With only the slightest hint of interest, his green eyes tracked Chance around the kitchen as the tabby removed a ceramic mug from a cabinet and filled it with milk from the refrigerator. He put it in the microwave and then took some honey out of the pantry. After mixing the naturally sweet syrup into the warm milk, Chance sat the mug in front of Jake and sat down. "You wanna talk about it?"

"Talk about what?" Jake asked, wrapping his paws around the warm mug. He took a cautious sip, but it wasn't hot enough to warrant a burnt tongue.

Chance tilted his head and pressed his tongue firmly into his cheek. He didn't need to elaborate. He knew Jake knew what he meant. So instead of explaining, he simply waited. Jake stalled by slowly sipping the warm, sweetened milk, his eyes flitting to the sides while he tried to figure out how to either worm his way out of explaining why he was awake or the least awkward way to express what was really bothering him. Between the drink and the warmth of the small home, his chill slowly evaporated. "Look, Chance..." Jake started and then sighed. "I just." He sat down the mug and leaned back in the chair. "What if someone had really gotten hurt? Dark Kat's stupid little trick aside... there is the real possibility of my weapons causing some serious damage." His ears seemed to melt as they lowered closer to his mop of tangled reddish-brown hair.

"You can't look at it like that, Jake." Chance rested an arm on the table and leaned heavily on it.

"Well it's kind of hard not to. Especially after what happened tonight." Jake furrowed his brow in frustration.

"That possibility of someone getting hurt has always been there. Even before the Swat Kats." Chance sighed. "Tell me something. You see on the news all the time the other news stations talking about the damage the Swat Kats do to the city. You honestly think that all those other times, all the surrounding civilians got out without so much as a singed whisker?" He didn't give Jake time to reply. "It doesn't work like that, kiddo." Chance could tell by the introspective look on the teen's face that Jake was already trying to think of some sort of alternate way of handling the horrible villains that seemed hellbent on ruling, destroying, or some sick combination of both to their city. "We go any easier on those guys, we might as well just start shooting them with rubber bands. We gotta have some faith that innocent bystanders have enough sense to get out of the way and let us do what we set out to do."

"And if they don't?" Jake looked up from under his thin lashes.

"Eventually someone is going to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and one of us is going to get blamed for what happened." Chance leaned forward. "I know you're going to do your best to make sure only the bad guys get hurt. If someone happens to get in the line of fire, you just gotta know that you _did_ do your best and that you're fighting for the greater good."

Jake looked unconvinced.

Chance heaved a tired sigh and stood up. He picked up the empty mug and went to the sink. "You need to go back to bed. You have an appointment for your braces and then school. And then football practice. You really don't have time to be stressing yourself out over this."

Jake bit his bottom lip and looked up with watery green eyes. "How do you do it?"

"Do what?" Chance asked.

"Not think about the risks?" Jake replied.

"Who says I don't?" Chance asked.

* * *

Chance scrunched up his nose and tried to will the impending sneeze to disappear. Instead, his sinuses rebelled by exploding more violently than necessary. He groaned and rested his head against the steering wheel while he waited for school to end. Jake was going to be disappointed if he didn't take him to take his permit test. It was his fifteenth birthday. He promised him they'd do it as soon as school got out. "Just think," Chance told himself. "When he passes it and gets his permit, he can drive home." He found a little bit of joy in the thought of Jake doing all the work while he lounged around the house until dinner was ready. The final bell shrilled loud enough to be heard outside. Or was that the ringing in his ears? Chance absently rubbed his throat, trying to soothe the soreness. He tried to inhale forcefully through his nose but it seemed to be filled with cement. "Uuuuuhhh." He moaned again, leaning back in the seat.

"Longest day ever!" Jake exclaimed as he got into the car. "Let's go. We only have two hours before the DMV closes." He turned to look at Chance and his excitement evaporated. "Are you okay? You look like shit."

Chance glared. "I'm fine. And I got a bar of soap with your name on it."

Jake's eyes widened at the threat. "Okay. We... um... we don't have to do this today."

"No. I promised we would and Chance Furlong does not break his promises." Chance made a throat clearing noise as he put the car in drive.

He had no doubt in his mind that Jake would pass the written test. When Jake found him sitting in one of the hard plastic chairs in the waiting room, he grinned triumphantly and waved his shiny new learner's permit.  
"Good job, kiddo." Chance tried to sound cheerful, but it was difficult with a stuffy head and nose. He fished his keys out of his pocket and handed them over. "Don't get us killed."

"Don't worry." Jake was still grinning madly. "I'm not taking any of your shortcuts."

* * *

"So what's left to do down here?" Jake asked as he unlocked the door to the garage.

"Uh." Chance sniffled loudly. "That one over there needs an oil change and a new air filter. Lady's comin' by to pick it up around closing time." He coughed deeply and winced as it aggravated his throat. "And... uh..." His head felt like it was going to implode. "Fuel pump needs to be changed on that ugly little truck over there." He pointed at a beige and brown pickup.

"No sweat." Jake shrugged. "I've got this, Chance."

"You have homework. I'll call the owners and tell them to pick 'em up tomorrow afternoon." Chance reminded.

"Chance." Jake looked mildly offended. "I can handle it. Just... I dunno... go watch cartoons or something."

Chance squinted at the teen. "You sure?"

"Yep." Jake went upstairs to change out of his school clothes into something he didn't mind getting dirty.

"Well if someone calls for a tow..."

"I'll tell them we can't and give them the number you have by the phone." Jake said over his shoulder.

"Right." Chance sighed. True, he had mused over this happening, but now he felt immensely guilty.

* * *

"Come on Charlie." Jake said quietly, turning the Swat Kat alarm to silent as he left their home. He really hadn't expected it to go off so he was stunned when it did just after he finished changing the oil on the little car. He hesitated for a moment before going to answer the call.

"Yes Miss Briggs?" Jake was rarely the one who answered her call. And she was surprised as well.

"Razor?" The Deputy Mayor started. "It... it's Hard Drive. He's back and he's gone crazy. He's not only absorbing all the power in the city, but he's already electrocuted several kats!"

"On our way, Miss Briggs." Jake said before going to lock up. He jogged up the stairs to get Chance but froze when he found his guardian sound asleep on the couch.

"What do I do?" Jake asked himself. Chance would _kill_ him if he took a mission solo, especially without telling him. But Chance also was clearly in no shape to battle even Hard Drive. He shot a look at Charlie. "It's easier to get forgiveness than permission," he whispered before darting out the door.

* * *

Chance was startled awake by the shrill ringing of his phone. "Hnh?" He blinked at the screen, registering that his mother was calling. "Oh." He sat up and cleared his throat. "Hey," it came out rough and thick.

"Chance Furlong! What in God's good name are you doing letting that boy run off on his own like that?" Rita shouted in his ear.

Chance winced. "What are you talking about? Jake's downstairs taking care of a few cars for me."

"Like hell he is!" Rita huffed. "What are you doing? Turn on the television!"

Chance looked around for the remote, finding that he was laying on it. He turned it to the news and felt his jaw go slack when he saw Razor narrowly dodge getting struck. "I'm gonna kill him. I gotta go." He was just about to run down to the hangar when he heard Ann Gora say "again, that's footage from the battle that ended just fifteen minutes ago in downtown Megakat City. The criminal known as Hard Drive is back in Enforcer custody, thanks to the Swat Kat." She went on about how power would be restored as quickly as possible while Chance went down to the hangar to wait on Jake. He was close to pacing a trench in the floor when he heard the rumble of the Cyclotron.

"So... um..." Razor fidgeted while removing his glovatrix and gloves. "You have a good nap?"

"You could have gotten yourself killed." Chance growled.

"It was just Hard Drive." Razor replied, though he didn't sound nearly as confident as he would have liked. He peeled off his mask. "And I didn't get killed."

"I don't care if it was a damn bunny rabbit!" Chance slammed his paw against the lockers. "Don't you _ever_ go off and pull a stunt like that again or you can consider yourself grounded! Permanently."

"Look, Chance." Jake kept his eyes on the large striped fist that had dented the defenseless metal. "I totally understand why you're pissed off, but you're sick. You were asleep. And, like I said, it was Hard Drive. It wasn't the Metallikats or Dark Kat or Viper. And I handled it just fine. There isn't a single scratch or singed fur on me."

Chance maintained his glare. All he could think about was the reoccurring tortuous dreams of that boy getting himself killed. But he felt like shit. He didn't feel like arguing. So instead of going off and reminding Jake about how important he was, Chance just shook his head. "Fine. Whatever." He walked away. "Just... don't do it again."

One of Jake's eyebrows arched upward. He'd been expecting to get chewed up, spit out, and chewed up again. "Okay." He quickly changed and hurried to finish the task he'd promised to handle before Chance came to his senses and realized he'd just let Jake off the hook.

* * *

"What happened to having my back?" Jake grumbled as he sat down on the bench. He was so tired of losing games. And, more importantly, he was tired of eating turf. Seriously? Where _did_ these other teams get their players? He shook his head as the next play started. They didn't have the ball. Their defensive line was okay at best.

"This really sucks." TL sighed. "I mean it couldn't get any worse for us if it started rai..." He was cut off as a loud boom of thunder rattled the stadium and lightening lit up the sky.

"You think you could ask for something a little more beneficial?" Jake tried to joke as the rain started. He shot an envious look at Becky as the JV coach handed them their jackets to help keep them dry. TL groaned loudly.

"What?"

"Coach is gonna forfeit." He moaned.

Jake watched as Coach Simmons called a time out and walked across the field to talk to the opposing coach. He looked up at the scoreboard. It was 35 to zilch with most of the fourth quarter left. "What's the likeliness of us coming back anyway?" There was another stroke of lightening and then... did the ground just shake? Jake looked around before getting up and going to get a cup of water from the cooler. He stared into it, feeling the earth tremble again. The water in the cup rippled. "Crud," Jake hissed and looked back at where Chance had been. Rita was standing near the chain link fence alone. He looked back at his team and then jogged over to Rita. "What's going on?"

"I'm not really sure." Rita looked afraid. "That little pager doohickey went off and he left, telling me to get you out of here as soon as the game was over and..."

"Furlong! Get your tail over here!" The coach shouted.

"I'll be right back." Jake told her and jogged over to his team.

"We're forfeiting on account of the weather." Coach told his team. "You boys played hard tonight but we just can't..." A loud explosion had them all ducking. "What the hell was that?"

Jake looked up at the sky. "A fighter jet breaking the sound barrier. Coach... if it's all the same to you, my family's waiting." He pointed at Rita. "If something bad is about to happen, I don't want her out here."

"Yeah. Everyone, get your stuff and go home. See you tomorrow."

"Unless the school get's destroyed." Fritz added.

* * *

"Razor watch out!" T-Bone shouted into the headset. He knew that it wouldn't be long before the kid showed up. Unfortunately, the giant rogue Pumadyne special wasn't letting Razor get close enough to reach the Turbokat, so he was still on the ground on the Cyclotron. "There's gotta be a way to shut this metal giant down!"

"I've got two ideas!" Razor said after moving away from any danger of getting crushed. Giant skyscraper sized robots really were only cool in movies. "One is trying to convince the idiots at Pumadyne to let me handle the controls or at least getting me near a computer so I could hack into its protocols and shut it down. The only downside is that it could take a couple of hours."

"And idea number two?" T-Bone was already out of his own ideas. Nothing he threw at it was stopping it.

"There's an access panel in its heel. If I can get inside, I can cut the power."

T-Bone frowned. Every time Razor got near its feet, he nearly got stomped. "I'm kind of liking idea number one better." He winced as the giant robot swung one of its mechanical arms into the side of a building. "But I think we only have time for the second one."

Razor swung around behind the creation and fired a grappling hook at its leg. The Teflon-like surface deflected it. "I guess I'm going to have to do this the hard way." He revved the engine and moved closer until he was within an arms reach of the robot. Relying on his good balance, Razor let go of the handlebars and stood. He could feel the Cyclotron begin to wobble. Just as it was about to fall, he jumped, grabbing onto the latch. The motorcycle crashed and tumbled away while the door swung open. Razor felt his grip start to slide and he tried the grappling hook again, this time firing it inside the machine.

"Razor?"

"I'm good." Razor panted. "I'm inside." He gasped as the movement threw him against the grated floor. The sharp edges tore into his elbows. Slowly, he pushed himself back up and looked around. A steel ladder was welded to the inside of the robot's leg. It seemed to go up forever. He fired his grapple up, not trusting the robot to remain steady while he climbed. Several times, he felt himself get jerked back and forth. Finally, he made it to the top. Looking out of the Robot's eyes was like looking out of an office building. "T-Bone, the head of this thing looks like a giant cockpit." He told his partner as he sat down in what would have been the pilot's chair.

"Can you shut it down?"

Razor frowned as he took in the intricate console. "Yeah but it might take me a minute."

"Just do what you've gotta do." T-Bone replied.

Razor tried to key in a command to shut it down. But the robot had other plans. As if suddenly aware of its intruder, sparks erupted from the controls and the smaller Swat Kat felt himself launched from the chair. He winced as he pushed himself up off the floor and looked around. There had to be something he could... "Oh you gotta be kidding me." Renewed, Razor jumped to his feet and darted over to a thick cord plugged into the 'wall'. With a tremendous amount of force, he pulled it loose.

"Razor! You did it!" T-Bone shouted. "It stopped moving! It..." He sucked in a sharp breath as the giant started to fall. "Razor! You better hang onto something!"

"What?" Razor's eyes widened as he felt the floor move away from him.

* * *

Jake's ears fell flat against his head as he watched only Melissa get out of her car. "Where's Blake?"

"He wanted to see his father this weekend." Melissa replied with a disbelieving shake of her head. Then she gasped. "My goodness! What happened to your face?"

If Jake could have looked even more disappointed, he would have. "I... was... uh... riding my dirt bike. And I crashed."

"You weren't wearing a helmet?" Melissa was immediately in front of him and gingerly inspecting the line of stitches that didn't quite blend in with the boy's fur.

"Uh..." Jake's eyes flitted to the right as he heard Chance coming outside.

"Chance! Why didn't you make this poor boy wear a helmet?" Melissa huffed.

"What?" Chance blinked.

"On my dirt bike." Jake turned, giving him a not quite subtle glare. "Remember? Last night, you said I needed to wear my helmet and I didn't listen..."

"Oooh." Chance hadn't even thought of a cover.

"Last night?" Melissa planted her paws on her hips. "You let him ride that deathtrap _at night_?"

"Well... er..." Chance glared at Jake. "I guess it wasn't my best judgment."

"I'll say." Melissa added.

"Where's Blake?" Chance repeated Jake's earlier question.

Melissa sighed loudly. "He didn't want to go with me."

"But we were going to the hockey game for Jake's birthday." Chance sounded almost angry. Melissa just shrugged.

"Chance, we argued for about two days over this. He said he didn't want to come here with me, that he'd rather go see his idiot father." She was clearly beyond frustrated. "I'm sorry Jake."

Jake shrugged, schooling his frustration. "It's okay." He really just didn't want to be stuck by himself or with Rita while Chance spent 'quality time' with his girlfriend. "Hey Chance... what if I asked Jason to come over?"

Chance tilted his head in surprise. "Jason? Why?"

"Well, I just thought that, since, you know, this year started and I..." Jake trailed off. "Never mind. It's not a big deal. Come on Charlie!" He shouted at the dog before going inside.

"Who's Jason?" Melissa asked.

"Hmm?" Chance looked at his girlfriend. "Oh. Jason's a friend from school." He followed Melissa inside, dutifully carrying her bag for her. "Hey I'm gonna go see what his deal is."

"Okay." Melissa's tail twitched. She should have just strung her son up by his toe claws and forced him to come along.

* * *

"If you want to see if Jason's doing anything tonight, that's fine." Chance hoisted himself up onto Jake's dresser and watched the teen lying on the bed, on his back, throwing darts at the ceiling.

"You sure you're okay with that? I mean, I know you don't exactly like him. I just kind of miss hanging out with him. And I feel bad for not being able to talk to him as much this year." Jake ran out of darts and pushed himself into a sitting position.

"Yes. As long as Ofelia is fine with it, I am too. But if you're going to, go ahead and do it, that way he's got time to get here before the game." Chance slid off the dresser.

* * *

"I can't believe Chance is leaving you alone with me." Jason joked as he scratched Charlie's belly.

"Trust me." Jake dropped into the recliner. "I already got a lecture."

"Let me guess. Don't steal any cars and don't smoke or drink anything."

"Affirmative." Jake slouched as he turned on the television. "It's no big deal though." He flipped through the channels. Then he sighed and looked at Jason. "What's your issue with Fritz and TL?"

Jason rolled his eyes. "Aw come on, Jake. They're a bunch of stupid jocks. I'm not going to let them sucker me into thinking they're my friends just so they can punk me later."

"I wouldn't let that happen." Jake glared. "Come on. I have, like, three more home games. Would it kill you to come to at least one? You could bring your mom and Lucy."

"Why are you being such a girl about this?" Jason folded his arms over his chest. "I really don't like football. And I don't like your new friends, no matter what you say about them."

"Come on, Jason. I'm really trying here." Jake leaned forward. "What do I have to do?"

"What?"

"What do I have to do to get you to at least make an effort to still be my friend regardless of everyone else?"

Jason rolled his eyes. "Fine. Damn. I'll go to one game. But I'm _not_ hanging out with you and all your stupid little jock friends afterward."

* * *

**_I know this seems sort of fragmented. Bear with me. =D_**

**_NK  
_**


	7. Chapter 7

"Oh my goodness! You two look sooo cute!" Rita gushed as she looked at the pair of teenagers. "Jake, stop playing with your phone."

"What?" Jake looked up sheepishly. He cleared his throat. "Sorry." He pocketed the new phone Chance had given him for his birthday.

"Good. Now. Let me get a couple of pictures." Rita went to grab her camera off the porch.

"Aw come on, Rita." Jake pouted. _She_ might have thought they looked cute. That was a word only applied to Becky in her 'Like A Virgin' style outfit. _He_ felt ridiculous with his fedora and too-tight jeans. Still, for Rita's sake, he smiled. "Can we go now?"

Rita sighed dramatically and lowered the camera. "Okay. I'm done. Chance! Take these kids to their little dance before I drive them crazy!"

Chance came outside from the house. "You heard the lady. Get in the car." Jake reached for the keys. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Driving." Jake replied confidently.

"No. You're going to sit in the backseat next to Becky while I drive." Chance laughed. "Now let's go."

* * *

Miranda watched from a dark corner of the decorated gym with a jealous sneer on her face. Jake was just having a grand ol' time with his friends and that skank _Becky_. Her hatred for that girl only deepened when they shyly kissed. "I'm going to take that little slut out." She muttered to herself and made her way to the table set up for punch and snacks.

"Hey. I'll be right back." Becky huffed, smiling brightly. "I'm so thirsty!"

"Okay." Jake replied, smiling as well. He couldn't ever remember having this much fun. He saw some of his teammates laughing and talking loudly nearby and decided to hang out with them for a few minutes until Becky came back.

Becky stumbled in her attempt to stop before running into Miranda. "Excuse me."

"Hey Becky." Miranda said sweetly, not moving out of the way.

"What do you want?" Becky gave her a suspicious glare.

Miranda sighed. "Listen Becky, I know you think I'm crazy. And... well... I just wanted to apologize for the way I've been acting."

Becky blinked in shock. "Wow, Miranda. That's really nice of you."

"Here." Miranda handed her a cup of punch and smiled weakly. "Peace offering?"

"Aw, thanks." Becky took the offered drink. "You know, maybe you aren't so bad after all." She walked away, taking a small sip as she neared Jake. "Yuck! Didn't they put any sugar in this stuff?"

"What stuff?" Jake asked.

"This punch." Becky handed it to Jake. "Do you want it? It's not sweet enough for me."

"Sure." Jake took the drink. "I was just going to get me something as well." He downed it in one gulp and tossed it into a nearby trashcan.

"Ooh I _love_ this song!" Becky exclaimed as the hired DJ switched from typical 80s pop to something more current for the remainder of the dance.

* * *

Jake shook his head to try and clear away the foggy feeling sweeping over his brain. He stumbled as everything tilted; the sounds around him remained muffled and muted. "Grrr-uuuggghhh." He growled as he pushed the heels of his palms into his eyes. What the hell was wrong with him? His heart was pounding as if he'd just gone ten rounds with Dark Kat and, no matter how hard he squinted at his reflection in the bathroom mirror, it wasn't getting any less blurry. How long _had_ he been in the bathroom? Jake couldn't remember. He lowered his arms and leaned on the sink, staring down into the drain.

"Hey Furlong!" Fritz snapped his fingers in his face. "You alright?"

Jake's tongue felt thick and it seemed to interfere with his response. "I'unno'.." he slurred.

"Becky sent me looking for you. She said you've been gone for half an hour." Fritz furrowed his brow in concern. "It's pretty much time to go."

"Right..." Jake pushed away from the sink and started for the door. His stomach gurgled loudly and he doubled over.

"Dude..." Fritz took a step back. "You aren't gonna...?"

Jake shook his head and spun around, clumsily stumbling into one of the stalls and whimpering as he struggled with the button on his pants.

Still standing near the sinks, Fritz cringed at the awful sounds that followed before running out of the boys restroom to find Becky.

"Well?" Becky asked, nearly in tears that her date had just vanished. "Did you find him?"

"Uh... yeah." Fritz grimaced. "He's still in the bathroom."

Becky's eyes widened. "Is he okay?"

"I'm gonna go out on a limb and say no." Fritz scratched the back of his head nervously. "Say... he didn't eat anything here, did he? Because if he got food poisoning from the snacks the teachers brought then.."

"No.. I don't think so." Becky bit her lip and looked around. No one else looked sick. "He just drank the punch and that's..." She let out a slight gasp. "You don't think someone spiked it, do you?"

* * *

Jake stumbled back to the sink and turned on the water, sticking his head under the cold spray. It did little to cool him down. Why was it so hot? Slowly, he stood back up and pulled several feet of towel from the dispenser before ripping it off and scrubbing his face. "'m okay," he mumbled aloud. "Jus' need t'get so'mair."

"Jake!"

He winced at the shrill tone and how it echoed around his head as Becky grabbed him by the arm. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah..." Jake offered a dazed smile. "Good. 'm good. Le's go."

Becky shot Fritz a worried look. "Will you come with us in case he passes out or something?"

"Sure." Fritz walked on the other side of his friend so that Jake was in the middle.

Jake looked down at his paw and the smaller brown one holding it. Sluggishly, his eyes tracked it back up to Becky. He wanted to tell her how soft her paws were. Instead, it came out sounding like "er paws'r-sof.."

"What was that?" Becky asked, looking at him after having spotted the black SUV.

"Wha's what?" Jake rolled his head to look at her.  
Becky looked at Fritz. "You think Chance is going to notice?"

"I think he's _already_ noticed." Fritz nodded as head at the approaching tabby.

Chance had been waiting for Jake and Becky to come out of the school. And when he'd seen Jake, practically being held up by his girlfriend and his teammate, his blood started to boil. Jake looked drunk as a skunk. Biting his cheek hard, Chance got out of the car, slammed the door, and quickly closed in on the trio. "Someone want to explain to me what's going on?"

"I swear!" Becky immediately defended herself. "I don't know what happened! One minute he was fine and then he was like this."

Chance swept his glare from Becky to Fritz.

"She's telling the truth." Fritz nodded his head. "It's like he's messed up on something."

Chance didn't say anything as he firmly took hold of Jake's chin in his paw and tilted his head upward. In the lights illuminating the outside of the school, he could easily see that his eyes were glassy. He also felt hot. Feverishly so. "Jake..." Chance asked, worry taking over. "Are you okay?" Jake didn't verbally respond. But he closed his eyes and, at some point, his breathing had quickened. Chance felt his pulse. It was racing. "Shit," he hissed. "Jake." He patted him on the cheek. "Hey."

Jake jerked his head away from the touch, opening his eyes and finding himself very close to Becky.

"Jake?" She asked softly. "Are you okay?"

Jake watched her mouth move, but the sounds that came out were distorted. Like a record being played backwards or in slow motion. He opened his mouth to voice his confusion but instead of talking, he became suddenly, and quite violently, sick.

Becky, sensing somehow that all wasn't well, started to move backwards. Her reward was Jake managing to only vomit on her feet. She was frozen for a moment in shock before stumbling away. Chance urged Fritz to move so that he could steady Jake, an intuitive move as the boy's knees instantly started to buckle. "Easy, Jake." He looked at the other two teens. "What did he have to eat?"

"We've already been over this." Fritz huffed. "All he did was drink the punch. But nobody else is sick."

"Did he leave it unattended?" Chance asked. Becky shook her head. "Okay... well... it has to be something. If he got his drinks and then drank them, then it can't be in the punch."

Becky gasped. "Miranda..."

Chance's ears flattened against his head. "What do you mean 'Miranda'?"

"I... well..." She bit her lip and stared at Jake, who was panting heavily and looking as if, any second, he might start heaving out his guts again.

"What is it, Becky?" Chance growled.

"I went to get something to drink and I ran into her. She was being really nice! And she apologized for everything and then gave me her drink. She said it was a peace offering." Becky sighed. "But it tasted weird so I gave it to Jake and he drank it."

Chance's eyes burned into her as he pulled his phone from his pocket. "Fritz, can you get your ride to take her home?"

"Yeah. Sure." Fritz frowned. "What about Jake?"

"He's going to the hospital." Chance growled.

* * *

Halloween night was going to go down as one of those horrible nights that Chance would never forget. There wasn't going to be enough room for him to ride in the ambulance with Jake, and when the paramedics pulled the stretcher away, separating them, Jake started freaking out. Actually, freaking out was probably an understatement as the teen started screaming for the EMTs to let him go, acting out of hysteria and confusion as foreign paws touched him. Chance fought the urge to push them away, but he could only offer reassuring words as they were forced to restrain him. "I'll be right behind you." Chance told Jake before he was taken out of his reach and put into the ambulance. He followed closely behind the emergency vehicle all the way to the hospital and then parked in the emergency lane so that he could follow Jake inside. He heard medical nonsense mixed with frightening phrases that were all too easy to understand. Things like "we need to cool him down" and "sorry sir, but only authorized personnel are allowed through here." He was resigned to pacing around the waiting room after filling out forms and calling his mom and then the Enforcers. There was no way he wasn't going to report this. Chance sat for a few minutes, with his head in his paws before standing again and resuming his agitated pacing. It seemed like hours before Rita showed up and several more before anybody said anything to him regarding Jake.

"He's stable." The doctor said. "I didn't want to sedate him; I wasn't sure it wouldn't exacerbate the problem. And I'm glad I didn't. He had a mix of rohypnol, which is a very common date rape drug, and what appeared to be many of the same chemicals in XTC. That would easily explain the rapid pulse and the elevated body temperature." He cracked his knuckles. "Jacob's conscious but still pretty disoriented, and he's being given some fluids. As long as he continues to show improvement, I don't see why he can't go home in a few hours."

"A few hours?" Chance shook his head. "Why not now?"

"This way he has time to recuperate where we can monitor him for any more serious effects from the drugs." The doctor stood up. "You can see him."

* * *

Jake lazily rolled his head in the direction of the familiar, comforting southern lilt that could only be attributed to Rita. Or Melissa. Or anyone from Pawline... But it had to be Rita. Why would anyone else be there? It was all he could do to hold his eyes open until he saw her, pushing her way past Chance, arms extended and paws ready to cup his face affectionately.

"Mom..." He mumbled unthinkingly.

"Oh my God." Rita whispered and turned to glare at the doctor. "He's..." Her eyes filled to the brim. "He's suffered some sort of memory lapse or something." Rita began rambling in worried panic.

"What?" Jake squinted in confusion. "Rita... what..."

"Mom." Chance glared at her. "Calm down. He's okay." He urged her to sit down. "Hey kiddo."

"Chance..." Jake let his eyes fall shut. "Is Rita okay?"

Chance couldn't help but smile as he reached out to stroke the damp fur on Jake's face. "Yeah. You know how she worries. How do you feel?"

"Tired..." Jake whispered. "Feel.." He opened his eyes; glassy pools of green that appeared to be searching for something. "I feel like I lost time."

"Like you lost time?" Chance's eyes widened.

"I remember they stopped playing the really old stuff and played some popular songs..." Jake closed his eyes again. "And Becky said she loved that song and then... nothing." He gave Chance an unbearably fragile look. "What did I do?"

"You didn't do anything, Jake." Chance carefully perched himself on the side of the bed, making sure not to dislodge anything important. "Do you remember drinking Becky's drink?"

Jake squinted as if the farthest part of the room would give him the answer. "I think so."

"She told me that Miranda gave it to her. I think it was meant for Becky." Chance sighed.

"So..." Jake's brow furrowed in confusion. "It wasn't my fault?"

Chance shook his head. "Nope. And I already spoke with someone about it so the Enforcers should be checking into it."

"What about Becky?" Ordinarily, Jake would have been embarrassed to show how much he enjoyed the paternal touch Chance was administering, but at that moment, the soft caressing of his guardian's paw against his damp cheek was as soothing as a warm blanket or hot tea. Maybe both.

"She got a ride home with Fritz. I'm sure she's pretty worried." He would tell Jake about how he puked on his date later. Right now, it wasn't important. "Why don't you get some sleep?"

"Sounds good." Jake purred, unconsciously nuzzling the paw touching his face.

* * *

Jake took a deep breath and dragged a nervous paw through his hair. He hadn't called Becky after the dance and everything that ensued. Especially not after Chance had given him all the gory details. He had sent Fritz a few text messages, and what he'd gotten in response only seemed to hammer in how awful the night turned out. "Come on, you're a Furlong now. Act like one." Jake straightened and bravely walked towards Becky, who was talking to her cheerleader friends. He waved shyly when she spotted him and she managed to detach herself from the group. "Hey," Becky said quietly as they walked over to a secluded spot in the hallway. "I thought maybe you wouldn't be here. Chance said he was taking you to the hospital and..."

"Becky, I'm really sorry." Jake cut her off. "Miranda is such a bitch for what she was going to do to you. And I'm triple sorry for throwing up on you. I completely ruined your night and I hope you'll let me take you to another movie or maybe we could get some ice cream or something..."

"It's okay." Becky giggled at his rambling. "It's really not that big of a deal. I mean, yeah, I was totally grossed out but I'm over it. And it's not like those shoes cost me a lot anyway."

"That's not how I wanted things to go." Jake pouted. "I mean, it was fun at first... and I think I had fun for a little while after but I can't remember."

"That sucks." Becky batted her eyes. "Because right before you disappeared in the bathroom for the rest of the night, I kissed you."

"You did?" Jake blinked. "Like... _kiss_ kiss?"

"Yeah. I thought you hated it." Becky looked down at her shoes. "I thought that was why you were gone so long. I felt so stupid. And then Fritz told me something was wrong."

"Let me make it up to you." Jake pleaded. "Anything you want."

"I'll think about what you can do." Becky smiled. "In the meantime... what about Miranda?"

"Chance called the cops and told them what she did. But I guess there wasn't any proof because she's here. I saw her when I got here." Jake sighed. "I don't know what to do."

"Well you're gonna hafta do something." Becky huffed. "It isn't _me_ she's obsessed with. I can't deal with this, Jake." She shifted her books in her arms as the bell rang. "I'll see you later."

"Great." Jake said to himself. "Why can't she just be a tom? That way I could punch her."

"They say talking to yourself is the first sign of crazy."

Jake turned and glared at Miranda. "You would know, wouldn't you?"

"What are you talking about?" She clicked her tongue. "Is this about someone drugging your little girlfriend?"

"_I'm_ the one that got, drugged, Miranda. Not Becky. I'm so tired of your shit." Jake growled. "Leave me and my friends and my girlfriend alone or I'm getting restraining orders for all of us."

"Quit being such a drama queen." Miranda laughed.

"None of this is funny." Jake hissed before walking away.

* * *

Chance reached to adjust the temperature in the cab of the truck. Either it was too hot or too cold. There didn't seem to be any middle ground. So with the heat on and the windows cracked, he managed to be comfortable for the drive home. After a long day, he had just enough time to drop this last junker off at the yard and then go pick Jake up from football practice. Chance sulked for a moment. He hated not being able to make it to actually watch practice, but sometimes it was just too busy.

Chance gritted his teeth and rode out the jarring bumpy ride into the salvage yard. He got out, unhooked the clunker from the wench and then went to get Charlie. "Ready to go for a ride, girl?"

Charlie barked and ran full speed down the stairs and out the door. Instead of running to the SUV, however, she took off out into the salvage yard. "CHARLIE!" He shouted in a commanding tone but the dog ignored him. "I don't have time for this!" Chance groaned. "Fine! You can just wait out here until we get back." He got into the car and left.

"Long day?" Chance asked upon seeing Jake; he looked exhausted.

"You have no idea." Jake frowned, but still he held out his paw for the keys.

"Trust me." Chance handed them over. "I have more than an idea."

"I'm thinking that maybe we should just pack up and move." Jake suggested as they made their way back to the car. "You know, away from crazy stalker she-kats?"

"How about away from cranky old she-kats and rusted beaters?" Chance added.

"And ten story monsters brought here by smelly ancient demons." Jake smirked.

"Yeah." Chance scrubbed a paw through his hair. "It just keeps sounding better and better, huh?"

"Yep." Jake said, getting into the driver's seat and sliding it forward.

"Mirrors." Chance said before Jake put it in reverse.

"I knew that." Jake huffed behind a smirk as he reached to adjust the rear view and then the side.

* * *

"Go ahead and do your homework. I'm going to get this piece of junk on the lift and then I'll figure out something for supper." Chance said when they got home.

"Hey, after dinner, can you help me with some of the repairs on the cyclotron?" Jake asked.

"We'll see." Chance said. "Depends on how tired I am."

"Okay." Jake replied, hoping not to sound too disappointed before going inside. He returned moments later. "Where's Charlie?"

"Oh." Chance winced. "She darted out on me when I was coming to get you. She's around the yard somewhere. It's almost time for dinner. You know that dog won't miss a meal."

That seemed to satisfy Jake for the time being and he went back upstairs where he set about spreading his homework across the kitchen table. Normally, he would have done it in his room, but, ever since coming home from the hospital, he'd wanted to stay near Chance. Heaving a deep sigh, Jake started in on his heavy load of homework.

"How's it coming?" Chance asked when he came inside.

Jake slammed his Advanced Biology II book shut and shook his head. "Slowly. I've got to have all this crap done because we're supposed to start dissecting things next week."

"That's going to be fun." Chance replied dully while he scrubbed his paws in the sink.

Jake glared at the back of his head. "Right." He closed the blue notebook assigned to biology and opened the red one he used for Algebra. "Now for the easy stuff." He was finished before Chance could get dinner ready.

"That it?" Chance asked, getting a can of cream of mushroom soup out of the cupboard.

"No. I have some verb conjugating thing for German. I was going to try to get Charlie to come inside first. She isn't usually gone this long." Jake stretched before going to get his jacket hanging on the hook by the door.

"Take your phone." Chance instructed.

Jake held up the new touch screen and slid it into his pocket. "Got it." He went out the door and jogged down the steps and then out into the chilly night air. "CHARLIE!" Jake shouted, following it up with a high pitched whistle. "Here girl! Come on! Time to eat!" He walked around the garage and out into the salvage yard, repeating his pattern of shouting and whistling. "Where the hell is she?" As he neared the far corner of the yard, where the road started to bend out of sight, he thought he heard a whimpering sound. Looking down, Jake spotted a hole just large enough for a dog to wiggle its way under and out. "CHARLIE?" He jogged back down the fence line to the gate and hit the control for it to open. The only light he had was from the various floodlights near the outside of the yard, but he could hear a terrible whining as he passed the corner. Hearing a car coming, Jake got out of the road. The headlights illuminated a pair of eyes, creating a creepy golden-greenish glow. He felt his heart leap into his throat. "Charlie..." Jake knelt onto the ground beside the dog, who was whimpering and whining.

* * *

Chance just about had dinner ready when the house phone rang. "Did you find her?" He didn't even bother with the customary greeting. He knew it was Jake. "You what?" Jake sounded absolutely panicked on the other line. "Ok... just... where are you? I'm coming with the car. Don't move her, okay? I know... I'll be right there."

He hung up the phone, turned off the stove and swore as loudly as he could. "I should have went after her." Chance scolded himself before going to get some blankets. While he ran out to the car, he dug the card for the vet out of his wallet. There was an emergency number for things like this.

Jake was on his knees in the cold dirt, gently stroking one of Charlie's floppy ears. "It's okay. You're gonna be okay." His voice was shaking. How could someone just hit a dog and keep going? His bottom jaw trembled. Kats could be so mean. "Hurry up, Chance." Jake had taken off his jacket and draped it over the dog. He was cold, but she was injured. It was more than fair. Finally, the bright lights from the SUV came up behind him. Chance simply stopped in the middle of the road, caution lights on, and got out. He pointed a flashlight at Jake and then his jacket on the ground. "She isn't...?"

Jake shook his head, not trusting himself to speak.

"Okay." Chance exhaled loudly. "We need to get her into the car and try to do it without jarring her too much. Dr. Wolfe said she'd meet as at the clinic." He handed Jake the flashlight. "Get your jacket and hold that so I can see her." He carefully lifted Charlie, making soothing sounds when she howled in pain. "It's okay girl. I've got you." Chance got her into the backseat, carefully settling her in the bed of blankets. "Are you okay?"

Jake gaped at Chance. "I'm not the one that got hit by a car!"

"Was just asking." Chance pointed into the back. "Sit back here with her and make sure she doesn't try to move."

* * *

Chance stretched and walked around the small waiting room. He popped his shoulders and then rotated his neck, eliciting a loud crack. Then he looked at Jake, shaking his head at how the boy was curled up sideways in the wooden chair with one leg draped over the arm and foot planted in the seat of the chair beside him. His other foot was on the floor... near a few candy bar wrappers and an empty soda bottle Chance stooped to pick up the trash, shaking his head as he dropped the garbage into the small receptacle. He stood for a while, reading the bulletins on the board near the door... pictures of lost pets and happy customers along with notes and a newspaper clipping filled the cork board.

"Mr. Furlong?"

Chance jerked his head around to look at the quiet veterinarian. "How is she?"

"We got the pin in her leg to hold it and cast on it. She's still a little doped up but otherwise you can take her home." She looked tired. "I've got a funnel for you to put on her to keep her from nipping at the stitches."

"Thanks." Chance smiled gratefully before going to wake Jake up. "Come on, kiddo."

* * *

Jake rolled over and mumbled something in his sleep. He felt something wet against his face and moaned in disgust as he opened his eyes and pushed away from his pillow, glaring tiredly at the huge drool spot. He wiped his mouth with his paw and then rubbed his eyes. It was a lot brighter than usual and he turned to look at his clock. "Fuck!" Jake leaped out of bed, his feet becoming tangled in the sheets and sending him sprawling onto the floor. "Ow..." He hissed, arching his back and finding a screwdriver.

"Chance!" Jake called out as he left his room. He stopped in the living room, finding Charlie lying on the soft bed they'd made for her last night. "Hey girl," Jake purred quietly, petting her gently. He heard the sound of an air wrench. "Wonder why he didn't wake me up."

Chance heard one of the steps creak under Jake's weight, and he dislodged himself from the car he was working on to acknowledge the teen. "Oh hey there sleeping beauty."

"Hey." Jake, wearing just his pajama pants and nothing else, padded over to a work bench and pulled himself up to sit on the table top. "Why'd you let me sleep?"

Chance snorted and pointed a socket wrench at Jake. "I _tried_ to wake you up six times. Finally, I gave up and figured I could get Ma to write you an excuse."

"Thanks. I guess." Jake swung his feet. "Is there anything you want me to do?"

Chance scrunched his nose in thought. "You can finish any homework you didn't get done last night, I guess. And then you can start going through that crap those two idiots left on our doorstep."

"Right." Jake slid off the work bench. "And then we can fix the cyclotron."

Chance laughed. "Yeah. Then we can fix the cyclotron." 


	8. Chapter 8

Chance checked his teeth in the mirror before getting out of the car. He'd been dreading having to talk to Miranda's parents, but it was his last option outside of waiting for the crazy little she-kat to try something else. Unlike the therapist Jake had seen during his freshman year, Connie's clinic was located in one of the nicer buildings on the more expensive side of town. Her clientele was clearly more exclusive.

"Do you have an appointment?" A thin, absurdly attractive receptionist asked with a sultry purr.

"Actually... I do." Chance smiled at her, unable to avoid looking down at her barely restrained cleavage. "Can you tell Mrs. Steele that Chance Furlong is here?"

"I will. Please have a seat." She leaned forward more than was necessary to pick up her phone.

It was another fifteen minutes before Connie's office door opened and a she-kat that Chance recognized from city hall came out. "See you next week, Connie," she said before heading for the door leading to the elevator.

"Chance." Connie smiled at the fit tabby. "Come on in."

Chance entered her plush office and stood by, waiting for her to shut the door. "Sorry to have to bother you at work over this."

"What was it you wanted to talk to me about?" Connie asked, motioning for him to sit. Chance remained standing.

"It's about Jake and Miranda." Chance offered a grim smile.

"She is quite smitten with him, isn't she?" Connie laughed.

"Yeah." Chance didn't find anything remotely funny. "Which wouldn't be so bad if, you know, Jake felt the same way."  
Connie tilted her head to the side, looking confused. "He doesn't? I was under the impression that he was. She's been going to his games, after all. And she said he was meeting her at the school last Friday for that dance."

Chance shook his head. "Jake has a girlfriend. He took her to the dance."

"But I have a picture of them together." Connie went to her desk, opened a drawer and pulled out her pocket book. "See?"

Chance narrowed his eyes at the picture. He recognized the tuxedo Jake wore to his recitals and sighed. "That picture's been doctored."

"Nonsense." Connie huffed.

"It has." Chance pulled out his wallet and removed a slightly wrinkled photo. "This is a duplicate of the original." He held it next to the one Connie had, making the flaws more noticeable. "This was taken last year... with Suri."

"So... they aren't dating?" Connie sounded distressed.

"No. At the moment, Jake doesn't even consider her a friend. And after all the horrible things she's been doing to try and get Becky to leave Jake alone, I don't blame him." Chance sighed. "All I'm asking is that you talk to her. Jake has tried but she isn't taking him seriously."

"I assure you, Chance. I will take care of this immediately." Connie looked back down at the pictures. "I just don't understand why she would do this. She's such a good girl."

Chance didn't say anything in response.

Connie took a deep breath and looked up at the tabby. "Thank you for bringing this to my attention. If she behaves in any way that you feel is inappropriate towards Jake or his girlfriend, please let me know."

"I will." Chance told her. "Thanks."

* * *

"Please do hold still, Jacob." Dr. Katsfield sighed as, once again, her young patient jerked his head away. "I know this isn't comfortable, but if you will bear with me for just a few more moments, I will be finished and you can go."

Jake squeezed his eyes shut and put a tremendous amount of effort into not moving. It was oh so tempting to bite down on the paws working to tighten the wire strung through the hideous brackets attached to his teeth. Somehow, he restrained.

"Done," she finally said, removing her gloves as she moved away from her patient.

Jake stood and licked his lips to restore the moisture. He tested his jaw by opening it and closing it as he left the treatment area to find Chance. The uncomfortable pressure was there already.

Chance offered a sympathetic smile as he dropped what he'd been reading and stood up. "Ready to go home?"

"Yeah." Jake huffed tiredly.

"Long day, huh?" Chance affectionately squeezed the teen's shoulder, noting how it seemed a little closer to his own.

"I'll say." Jake felt worn out and was glad to have not had practice that afternoon. Between working on that piece with Mr. Spieker prior to school starting and then preparing for the midterm exams, he felt drained.

"You haven't had any problems out of Miranda, have you?" Chance asked.

Jake shook his head. "I haven't seen her since Monday." He drove his paws into his coat pockets just as his phone started buzzing. It was a text message from Becky asking if he was going to call her or not. Rolling his eyes, he responded with a simple 'later' before getting in the car. "How was your day?"

"Eh." Chance shrugged as he started the engine. "Slow. Again. I think Callie is taking her car somewhere else because I haven't heard anything out of her."

"Or it just isn't giving her any problems." Jake offered.

"Maybe." Chance replied, looking distant.

"You miss her?" Jake asked.

"Kind of." Chance sighed. In truth, he was getting somewhat bored with Melissa. Sure she was sweet. And wonderful in bed. But... there was just something missing. She, on the other paw, seemed perfectly content with their relationship. Melissa was no longer content to simply wait on Chance to call. If he hadn't phoned her by his usual time, then she would call him. And she was talking about moving to the city. She was getting... clingy.

"Chance!" Jake shouted suddenly.

"Huh..?" Chance shook himself out of his daze, slamming on the brakes in time not to run a red light.

"Are you okay?" Jake asked after a moment of wondering if his heart was going to slow down.

"Yeah. I guess I just kind of spaced out there for a second." Chance shook his head. "Sorry, kiddo."

Jake looked more than mildly worried. Sure, Chance got lost in his thoughts from time to time, but never while operating any sort of vehicle. "You sure?"

"Yeah. I should have been paying better attention." Chance replied.

"About being okay, Chance." Jake's ears lowered a fraction.

"I'm fine." Chance forced a smile. "Just got a lot on my mind I guess."

"Why don't you call her?" Jake asked. "Maybe you two could go out or something."

"I couldn't go behind Melissa's back like that." Chance was surprised Jake would even suggest it, and somehow less surprised that he knew what the problem was.

"I wouldn't say anything." Jake replied innocently. "And it could be as friends. You _are_ allowed to have friends, right?"

"I'll think about it." Chance visibly sagged.

* * *

"Go Jake Go!" Lucy shouted loudly.

"Shut up, stupid. The game hasn't even started yet." Jason huffed, clearly annoyed by the hyper kitten's antics.

"Jason! Watch your mouth!" Ofelia huffed and then smiled when she saw Chance walking with an older she-kat. She vaguely remembered meeting Rita a few times. "Oh hey Chance!"

Chance took his attention away from his mother to give Ofelia a surprised look. "What are you guys doing here?"

"Jason said this was Jake's last home game for the season." Ofelia pulled her jacket more tightly around herself.

"Yeah." Chance nodded his head at Jason. "He also said you weren't into football. Does he know you're here?"

"Yeah he knows." Jason replied nonchalantly. "Still not into football."

"You mind if we sit with you guys?" Rita asked. "Hey there little girl!"

"Are you Jake's mom?" Lucy asked with wide eyes.

"No, Lucy. She's..."

Rita cut Jason off, smiling brightly at the beautiful she-kitten. "Yes dear, I am."

Chance rolled his eyes as his mother let the little girl start talking her ear off.

"She is just so adorable," Rita whispered to Chance. "Oh I remember when you were that little! You were just as talkative."

One of Chance's eyebrows inched upwards. Before he could comment on her stereotypical behavior, the game started. "Alright! Let's win this one!" Someone cheered.

"No kidding," Chance mumbled. The JV Tigers had won a total of four games that whole season. It would be nice if they could go out on a high note.

* * *

"Awesome!" TL high-fived Jake after they'd managed to score first in the game.

"Nice run, small fry!" LaCroix bellowed loudly.

Jake jogged back towards the bench confidently. He shot a look over at the cheerleaders and caught a smile from Becky. It was definitely going to be a good night.

* * *

Jason leaned back against the step behind him and watched the game with detached interest. He rolled his eyes when Chance 'whooped' loudly, feeling a small spark of jealousy that he hadn't done anything to earn that sort of enthusiasm from his mother. Chance was probably audible on the moon... and he wasn't even really Jake's family. Bored and feeling antsy, Jason stood up.

"Where are you going?" Ofelia grabbed him by the wrist.

"I'm thirsty." Jason replied, jerking his arm free.

"Can't you wait? It's almost halftime." She glared.

"No." Jason replied sharply.

"Fine. Just bring back something for Lucy." Ofelia said.

"Whatever." Jason sighed as he jogged down the bleachers. As he neared the concessions stand by the restrooms, he shot a look over his shoulder. From there he could still see his mom, not paying him any attention at all. "This is so stupid," he mumbled, heading for the exit.

"If you leave, you have to pay to get back in." A school volunteer said at the gate.

"I'm not missing much." Jason replied with a smirk.

"Are you kidding?" The kit said. "They might actually win this one."

"And I wouldn't care either way." Jason said as he slipped out of the gate. He walked through the parking lot behind the stadium and reached into his pocket pulling out a lighter and a joint. "Lucy can get her own damn drink."

* * *

"Mommy, I'm thirsty." Lucy pouted. Halftime had just ended and Jason wasn't back yet.

"Where is that boy?" Ofelia groaned, pulling her phone out of her purse and dialing his number. It rang for a while before going to voice mail. "I guess we're just going to have to go find him."

"But I wanna watch the game!" Lucy complained.

"I'm sorry, sweetie, but if your brother got himself in trouble again, I need to know." Ofelia stood up.

"I'll watch her." Rita volunteered.

"Oh mommy, can I stay with Mrs. Rita? Please?" Lucy's eyes lit up.

"Are you sure that would be okay?" Ofelia looked worried.

"She'll be fine." Rita smiled reassuringly. "Go find Jason. We'll be right here."

"Thank you so much." Ofelia clutched her purse. "Lucy, I will be right back."

* * *

"Alright boys." Coach Simmons tapped his clipboard. "They got that field goal on us and it gave them the lead. But this is the final stretch. If we can get a touchdown, then we've got the win." He gave them the play and sent them back on the field. "I'm looking for you," TL whispered to Jake before they separated into the correct positions. Jake did a good job of making himself open and the ball came right to him, landing right in his arms. When he turned around to run, he found himself blocked. He darted left and then right, zigzagging around two key defensive players before getting tackled.

In the bleachers, Chance shouted about the first down before sitting back beside Rita. "You see Ofelia anywhere?"

Rita shook her head. "You have her number?"

"Yeah." Chance pulled his phone out of the inside pocket of his coat.

* * *

Jake shot a look at the time on the scoreboard before looking back down the field. Less than a minute to go. Ten yards away from the end zone. He could make it. TL got the ball off without a hitch. Same as before. Right into Jake's waiting arms like it was meant to be. Jake turned and ran. Then things started to feel a lot like his first game. Time slowed and his peripheral vision blurred. He knew someone was gunning for him, but he was almost there. Then he got hit from the left. An incredible force plowed into his legs, which wouldn't have been so bad if another similarly incredible force didn't hit him from the other side right in his ribs. Blood rushed to his ears as soon as he felt the crack in his leg.

* * *

"Did you find him?" Chance asked, covering one ear from the noise so he could hear Ofelia's high-pitched voice through the phone. "Okay well just... holy shit!" Chance almost dropped the phone when Jake got hit. "Sorry. Ofelia, I gotta go." He handed his phone off to Rita before running down the bleachers.

* * *

Jake was so stunned that he couldn't understand what anyone was saying to him. Several players were huddled around him, as well as referees and coaches. His helmet was pulled off and he was made to stay still. "Easy, son." Coach Simmons said, his words finally breaking through the thrumming in Jake's head. "Don't move too much."

The stand-by paramedics finally got on the field and did their best to assess the injury. "Judging by the swelling," one said as he tenderly examined Jake's left leg. "I'd say this is broken."

"Fuck." Jake hissed, drawing nearly everyone's attention away from the injury.

"Real articulate, Furlong." Fritz snorted. "You couldn't have won this for us before going and getting yourself hurt?"

"You..." Jake winced as he was moved. "Still have a few seconds."

Fritz looked at the time clock and shook his head. "Fifteen seconds is not enough."

"Can it, Fritz." Coach Simmons glared at the player. "You did good, Furlong. At least this happened at the end of the season."

* * *

"Rita!" Ofelia panted as she ran into the older she-kat. "Is..." She paused to take a breath. "Is he okay?"

Rita shook her head. "Chance said he broke his leg."

Ofelia took Lucy from her.

"Did you find Jason?" Rita asked.

Ofelia inhaled sharply. "I certainly did. You tell Jake I am so sorry, but I don't think he's going to be seeing Jason any time soon."

"What happened?" Rita saw Chance approaching out of the corner of her eye.

"He left and was picked up by an Enforcer. He got taken in for possession of an illegal substance." Ofelia shook her head. "They won't be releasing him until he sees a judge and then it depends on the sentence."

"Jake's going to be sorry to hear that." Chance broke in. "We have to go."

* * *

"Charlie!" Chance snapped as his foot slid in a puddle. The dog hobbled to a corner and cowered.

"Don't yell at her, Chance." Jake pleaded as he sat down in a nearby chair. He rubbed his underarms. They already ached from the crutches. At least his injured pup would have some company.

Chance shot Jake a look before taking the dog outside. When he came back in, Jake was still sitting at the kitchen table, spinning the salt shaker like a top. The tabby dropped his paw onto the dispenser and glared at Jake. Then he sighed, his glare melting away. "I bet you're pretty mad, aren't you?"

"Mad?" Jake looked up. "Why would I be mad? It's not like I didn't already know where I ranked on the list of things important to Jason." His voice rose in octave as he spoke. "I only practically begged him to come to at least one game and he couldn't even do that without it being a problem."

"Hey." Chance pulled one of the chairs out and sat in it. "At least you tried. And, who knows, maybe he'll come out of this for the better."

"Statistically, 70 percent of teenagers sentenced to juvenile detention end up repeat offenders." Jake quoted something they'd been taught in Enforcer training.

"That still leaves 30 percent." Chance offered.

"Could you stop being the optimist for just one second?" Jake glared at him.

Chance pursed his lips together as if he was about to say something else. Instead, he remained silent. Jake waited for the words to come. When they didn't, he pushed himself up with a wince and an audible gasp. "I'm going to bed," he said, reaching for the fiendish crutches.

"You need any help?" Chance dutifully asked.

"I got it." Jake hissed.

* * *

The school day passed by slowly and tortuously. It was extremely difficult for Jake to manage his heavy book bag and crutches. Factor in that he'd only gotten a few hours of sleep before having to go to school, and he was tired and irritable on top of everything.

"Jake!" Becky ran up to him in the hall between third and fourth period. "Do you need any help?"

"I'm good." Jake hoped he sounded polite. He knew he certainly didn't feel it. "Are you going to the game tonight?"

"Of course." Becky laughed, then sobered. "Are _you_ going to be there?"

Jake exhaled loudly. "Honestly, I'm not feeling it. But Blake and his mom are going to be here for the weekend, and he will want to go."

Becky made a face.

"What?" Jake was suddenly worried.

"I figured Blake would have told you. Jessica isn't allowed to talk to him anymore after they got caught having... you know." Becky lowered her voice.

"No. He didn't tell me that." Jake frowned. "I'm not surprised though."

"You should come tonight, Jake." Becky leaned closer. "For me."

Jake blushed a little at her tone. "Okay. I'll be there."

"Good." She smiled. "See you tonight."

* * *

"Hey cripple." Blake teased when Jake opened the rear passenger door. Jake wasted only a moment to level him with an icy glare before balancing on his right foot while he stowed his crutches over the seat and into the trunk and then tossing his bag into the car before pulling himself up.

"Nice to see you too." Jake grumbled. "Hey Melissa," he said with a little more cheer.

"Hey Jake. Sorry you guys lost your game last night." She smiled sympathetically.

Jake's tail twitched but he didn't respond to the unnecessary apology. "Hey Chance, we're going to the game tonight, right?"

Chance shot Jake a quick look in the mirror before returning his eyes to after school traffic. "I didn't think you'd be up to it. We didn't get home from the hospital until around one this morning. And you've got that big recital at the university tomorrow. I figured you'd just want to practice a little and then get some rest."

"Well... yeah but..." Jake bit his cheek before continuing. "Becky asked if I was going to be there, and I already told her I would."

"I was thinking about going to a movie." Chance replied.

"Then you guys go to a movie and you can drop me off at the school." Jake regretted how whiny his words sounded.

"Blake, you want to go to the game?" Melissa asked.

"Not really." Blake huffed.

"You just don't want to go because you aren't allowed to talk to Jessica anymore." Jake hissed. "Come on, Chance. It's not like _I_ did anything I wasn't supposed to."

"Fine." The way Chance said it, one would have thought he'd just conceded a serious argument.

"Blake, do you want to go to the game with Jake or to the movies with us?" Melissa asked her son.

"How about Jake goes to the game, you guys go to the movie, and you just leave me at the mall or something." Blake suggested with a hint of disgust in his voice.

* * *

"I can't believe you're here without Blake." Becky giggled, snuggling closer to Jake. They were sitting on a small grassy hill between the visitor bleachers and the concessions stand. It was far enough away from the crowded stands for no one to really pay them any attention but close enough to still watch the game.

"I know." Jake shifted on the cool grass, arching as he felt a spasm of pain from his leg. "So... football season is pretty much over after tonight. I guess I won't get to see you as much."

"Unless you ask me out." Becky batted her eyes up at him.

"Unless I ask you out." Jake repeated with a slight smile.

"And you can come watch me cheer at the basketball games." Becky added.

"I think I can manage that." Jake tentatively put his arm around her and she leaned into him.

"It's cold out tonight." Becky said.

"You wanna share my coat?" Jake asked. "It's kind of big." He still hadn't quite grown into it.

"Well... okay." Becky sat up so that Jake could work one arm out. She slipped one arm into the coat and wrapped the other around his waist. Jake snaked his arm around her, noting how pleasantly warm her body was against his. Becky leaned her head on his shoulder.

"So... uh..." Jake cleared his throat. "You think the varsity's gotta cha...?" Becky apparently wasn't in the mood for conversation as she silenced him with a kiss. It was a soft one; she kissed him on the lips and lingered for a moment before pulling away. She batted her eyes shyly again and he let one of his eyebrows arch before ducking his head and going back for more invasive seconds. Her tongue tasted sweet, like the remnants of a minty gum and a sugary soda. It was sloppier than it had been with Suri, which was saying something, but it was more full of desperation than anything he'd ever felt. Jake found himself trying to pull her into his lap.

"Wait..." Becky pulled away.

"What's wrong?" Jake wondered if he'd done something wrong.

"It's just that..." She made sort of a nodding motion with her head and Jake turned to look, finding themselves under the intense stare of a school official.

"Oh." Jake frowned. "Well... that was fun for a second, huh?"

"Maybe when she isn't looking anymore, we can sneak off under the bleachers."

Jake's eyes widened in surprise. "You aren't getting your dating advice from Jessica, are you?"

"What?" Becky looked innocent. "No. I just thought that, you know, it would be nice."

"Uh huh." Jake smirked. "Sounds good to me except I don't think I'm capable of being very sneaky right now." He shot a hateful look at the aluminum crutches lying on the grass beside them.

"What if I leave and then you wait a little while and come after me?" Becky asked.

Again, Jake looked surprised. "Becky, does your grandmother know what a little minx you are?"

She giggled and stood up. "Meet me under the visitor bleachers in ten minutes."

Jake shifted so that she could move out of his coat and then leaned back on his elbows to watch her go. He turned his attention back to the game on the field, hoping to appear nonchalant about her leaving. After a few minutes, the teacher that had been monitoring the two teenagers decided there wasn't any more to be wary of. And then Jake got a message on his phone. It was a picture message. When he opened it up and found a self taken image of Becky... without a top, he was up so fast, no one would believe he'd broken his leg.

"What took you so long?" Becky asked when Jake clumsily slipped under the metal and concrete bleachers.

"Was that really you?" Jake couldn't believe it.

"Maybe." Becky giggled.

"Prove it." Jake smirked.

Becky shrugged and backed up a few steps, casually tugging up her shirt. She wasn't wearing a bra.

"Oh my god..." Jake mumbled.

"You wanna touch 'em?" Becky asked.

"Do I want to...?" Jake felt like he needed to shake his head to clear it but was afraid she'd take it as a 'no'. "Can I?"

Becky moved closer to him and grabbed one of his paws. Jake let the crutch under one of his arms clatter to the ground as she slowly pulled the connected paw to her bare breast. He bit his lip as he slowly rubbed his thumb over the soft, lightly furred mound and erect pink nipple. She gasped and he looked up sharply. "Sorry," he mumbled.

"No." She breathed in. "It felt good."

Jake did it again, finding that he enjoyed her reaction. When she closed her eyes and leaned more heavily into the touch, he tilted his head enough to kiss her while he touched her breast. Becky hooked her fingers just into his front pockets, closing the gap between them. He felt her brush against the now straining bulge in his jeans and could only groan into her mouth. He pulled away from her. "Becky..." Jake felt breathless.

"Hmm?" She looked up at him through her thick lashes.

"Can we move this to one of the support beams or something?" Jake gave her a pleading look. It was getting really hard to hold up her weight and his while leaning on one crutch with his attention swiftly moving down south.

Becky frowned. "Actually..." She gave him her most apologetic smile. "Maybe we should go."  
Jake's jaw dropped. "But..." He looked down. "You're just gonna leave me like this?"

She shrugged. "I'm starting to get nervous. You know? Like any second, someone is gonna come under here and find us."

Jake sighed. "Yeah. You're right." Stupid responsibility.

Becky picked up the fallen crutch and handed it to him. "You go first. We don't want to walk out together."

"Right." Jake was beyond disappointed. At the same time, however, the rational part of his brain was finally starting to get a clear signal. It really was time to go.

* * *

"Could this be any more boring?" Blake complained. He was wearing what his mother called 'church clothes'. "Please tell me Jake's going first that way we can listen to him play his stupid piano and then get out of here."

"Blake." Melissa huffed. "It isn't stupid. And Chance tells me that he's pretty good." She looked down at the seat beside her where her coat and purse were rested to save the tabby a spot whenever he got done doing.. well... whatever it was he was doing. "Besides," she picked up the program. "He isn't playing until the end anyway."

Blake sighed loudly. "Can I at least go... I dunno... walk around or something before this starts?"

Melissa bit her tongue hard to keep from yelling at her son. "Fine," she hissed, moving her purse to his seat when he got up. "You better be back before this starts."

"Yeah yeah." Blake rolled his eyes and left the large auditorium that was already filling with kats. "I can't believe all these kats are here to listen to some dumb classical music." He slipped out the double doors and looked around. There were several kats walking either up or down a large staircase leading to another part of the massive building. He decided that was the way to go.

* * *

Chance scrunched his nose as he did his best smooth down a patch of stubborn fur on Jake's neck.

"You're making me nervous." Jake brushed him off and glared. "I look fine."

"Yeah, I know." Chance reached his paw out to try and smooth that patch of fur again. Jake whacked the offending paw away. "Sorry." He offered a weak grin. "You sure you're gonna be okay to play?" He looked down at the protective boot over the foot portion of the cast.

"I'm not playing it with my feet, Chance." Jake rolled his eyes. "Why are you acting so weird about this?"

"Well you haven't said one word about what you're playing." Chance huffed. "And the way you've been practicing with the headphones on so I can't hear it makes me think you're afraid of how it's going to sound, which I guess makes me kind of nervous that you're nervous. In which case, you shouldn't be."

Jake's jaw dropped slightly. "Great." He looked away. "Now I _am_ nervous."

Chance winced. "Sorry."

"Look, I just..." Jake looked as if he was having a hard time figuring out the words he wanted to say. "It's something you've heard before. And, I'm sure.. well at least I think I'm sure... that you'll recognize it when you hear it." He paused. "Unless I screw it up."

"You aren't going to screw it up." Chance offered. His gaze drifted to something behind the teenager.

"What?" Jake turned around. It took a second to find what his guardian was looking at, but he knew it the minute he saw it. There, across the room, in a long black gown, was a snowy leopard of a she-kat with dirty blond hair brushing her shoulders, holding a viola by the neck and talking to an older she-kat. "Suri...?" She turned, piercing eyes searching for whoever had said her name. Upon seeing Jake, she handed the instrument to the lady she'd been speaking with, picked up her dress with one paw and ran towards him.

"Jake!" Suri gasped, wrapping her slender arms around him tightly. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm performing. You didn't look at the program?" Jake spoke softly, as his mouth was very close to her ear.

"I glanced over it, but I didn't look to closely at the names." She tilted her head. "You must have improved quite a lot since I last heard you play if you're playing here."

"Well I don't know about that." Jake ducked his head at the compliment. "I _did_ look over the program and I know for a fact that I didn't see your name."

"My father decided we would stay here in this country. I persuaded him to enroll me into a private school. There's a very good one that offers an extensive music program. It is listed as The Manx Grand Institute For Arts and Music."

"Ah..." Jake's eyes lit with recognition. "You're in the quartet."

"You'll be watching?" Suri asked, looking hopeful.

"Yeah." Jake smiled.

"Great." Suri hugged him again and unthinkingly kissed him on the lips before hurrying to finish getting ready.

"Bye..." Jake managed after she was out of earshot.

"Well I think that's about all the good luck you need." Chance said, clearing his throat to pull the boy back out of the daydream he was quickly sinking into.

"What?" Jake turned around. "Oh. Yeah."

"This things about to start." Chance said. "I'll see you in a little while." He hesitated. "I'd tell you to break a leg but..." He gestured down at the injury.

Jake mock laughed and shot Chance the bird, earning a less than pleased look from one of the more stuffy performers.

As Chance was leaving, he nearly ran into Blake. "Hey kit. Shows about to start."

"I know." Blake rolled his eyes. "Jake in there?"

"Yeah. You gonna wish him good luck?" Chance asked.

Blake seemed to debate it for a moment. "Nah," he said finally and followed Chance down the stairs, feeling his phone buzz in his pocket. A sly smile spread across his face. "I think I might actually enjoy this a little."

"Well good." Chance shot a suspicious glare at Blake as he hurried down the stairs to get to his seat.

* * *

Jake leaned on his crutches as he lingered in the wing off the stage. He watched the fluid, graceful way in which Suri seemed to entice music from the strings over her viola, feeling his heart clench with each note. He missed her and had to keep reminding himself that he had a girlfriend. Sure she wasn't as smart as Suri, and often didn't get his humor. And her talents weren't exactly noteworthy. But she was hot. And a cheerleader.

When the quartet finished their four song set, and the curtain closed, Jake met her at the edge of the stage. "You were great."

"Thanks, I..." Suri tilted her head. "How did you break your leg?" She had just noticed it for the first time.

"Playing football." Jake grinned proudly.

"What?" Suri laughed. "With Chance?"

"No." Jake seemed to puff up. "For the school. I'm on the JV team."

"That's..." She shook her head, laughing again. "So hard to believe. Do you like it?"

"Yeah I guess so." Jake shrugged. "It's fun. Well.. it was until I got clobbered."

"I wish I would have known. I would have loved to watch you play." Suri walked slowly beside him as they left the performance area and went out into the hall on the outside of the auditorium.

"It's probably better that you didn't." Jake grimaced. "We only won a few games."

Suri tilted her head, looking at him with a sort of smirk.

"What?" Jake felt her place a paw on one of his shoulders.

"I've missed you, Jake. I've missed you a lot more than I thought I would." She offered a grim smile.

"I know." Jake replied. "I mean, I feel the same."

"I'll be watching you play." Suri smiled more brightly. "You should make sure that you're ready."

"Will I see you?" Jake asked. "After this, that is."  
"If you keep playing well enough to perform at recitals like this, then I'm sure of it." Suri answered.

"No." Jake shook his head. "Other than like this."

Suri frowned. "I..."

A door near the end of the hall swung open and a tall dark furred boy came rushing through it. "Suri!" he exclaimed. "There you are!" His eyes swung from her to the boy she was standing awfully close to. "Who is this?" His tone quickly changed to a more protective one.

"Jake." Suri replied. "And this is my boyfriend Anthony."

"Oh." Jake hoped he didn't sound as disappointed as he felt. "Uh..." He tried to smile but it came across as a pained expression. "Anthony..." he cleared his throat. "It was... nice meeting you. Suri, I need to go. I'll see you around, maybe."

* * *

"Who is Miriam Clawson?" Melissa whispered to Chance after the curtain had closed on the performance that came before Jake's.

Chance gaped at her in shock. How did she know that name? "Wh-what?" He choked out.

"You didn't read the program either?" She rolled her eyes.

"I knew when he was up." Chance replied as he opened the high quality printing. His heart clenched when he saw the title of the piece Jake would be performing. "A Piano Tribute To Miriam Clawson – As Performed by Jacob Furlong." He felt a little hurt that Jake wouldn't tell him what he was doing. "That's his mother," Chance whispered.

"Oh how sweet!" Melissa gushed. When Chance didn't seem to return the enthusiasm, she frowned. "This is a good thing, right?"

"Well, I suppose so." Chance shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Melissa didn't know about the video Jake had been sent. In fact, the only other kat who knew was Rita. And she hadn't even watched it.

Finally the curtain raised and the spotlight found Jake, seated at probably the nicest piano he'd ever touched. It was parallel with the edge of the stage, but so that you saw his right side, obscuring the broken leg from view. He seemed hesitant for a moment before settling his claws against the keys and playing out the beginning of a haunting tune. From his place in the middle of the left row of seating, Chance could see that Jake's eyes were closed and his brow was furrowed in intense focus. The tabby shivered, feeling a little as if he was seeing a part of Jake's soul. He had the feeling of having lost something that he would never get back. It was feeling he'd felt before but never like this. He had to blink a few times to clear his eyes, and, when the final notes were resonating throughout the auditorium, Chance stood and applauded.

Jake sat at the piano, claws hovering above the keys. They were shaking and he didn't know how that hadn't come through the music. There was a roar in his ears and he cautiously turned to the right. Surprised to find the audience on their feet and clapping enthusiastically, he shot a look off stage. Mr. Spieker was there, as he'd promised, making a waving motion... urging the boy to stand up. Using the piano for leverage, Jake clumsily stood and offered an uneasy bow, allowing the curtain to close before turning to find his crutches.

"I'll be right back." Chance said to Melissa before standing up and working his way down the crowded row. Once out the door, he jogged down the hall and skidded to a halt by the door leading backstage as it was opening. He heard the 'clunk, step, clunk, step' of Jake's crutches. "Jake!"

The teen shot Chance a startled look. He hadn't expected to see him right then. "Chance," it came out in a hoarse whisper.

Chance looked at the teacher. "Can we have a minute?"

"Sure." Mr. Spieker smiled broadly. "Jake, that was truly amazing. I'll see you on Monday."

Jake nodded, sucking on the inside of his cheek in an attempt to keep his jaw from quivering. He hadn't expected it to be so emotionally draining, especially after hours and hours of playing and practicing. Cautiously, he looked up to meet Chance's eyes and found him suddenly enveloped in a tight hug. "Do you think she heard it?" It was barely a whisper.

Chance pulled back from the embrace. "Yeah." He found himself brushing his thumb across a damp patch of fur on Jake's cheek. "She heard it." 


	9. Chapter 9

_**My apologies for the delay in writing this chapter. I have had the unfortunate bad luck of developing a nasty case of bronchitis. Naturally, it hit me a week prior to my first week of vacation and has stuck with me for three weeks now. And, since I don't have the good sense to stay home and rest, I managed to only exacerbate my illness by continuing on with my birthday plans during my week off. One would think that the amount of alcohol I consumed between St. Patrick's day and the Apocalyptica concert that followed two days later would have burned this crap right out of me. On that note, I'd like to take a moment to thank my amazing mother in law for the most exciting night of my life. Thanks for making me feel like a celebrity, and, as always, thank you for once again proving to me that 'family' is not a four letter word. I know that I write time and time again that a lot that goes into my stories is based on actual events. While my mother in law doesn't actually read these particular writings, she would certainly verify the catharsis writing is for me. As I inch closer and closer to the dreaded 30, I am becoming more aware of how important family is. At the same time, I'm finally starting to realize that I don't need to keep looking for answers. I don't need to justify who I am. **_

_**Before this becomes too lengthy, I'd like to thank all the readers of my fan fiction. Positive feedback and constructive criticism are what keep me writing. I feel that one day, I might have the confidence to write something truly profound, and when I do, your pen names are going to be on the dedication page, and no one else in the world is going to get it. =D**_

* * *

Jake carefully leaned his crutches against the locker next to his and began turning the dial on his lock. Just as it clicked open, he felt a gentle tap on his shoulder. "Oh hey!" He grinned at Becky. "What's up? I haven't heard anything from you since Saturday."

Becky, her smile sickeningly sweet, pulled her phone from her pocket. "I know. Could you do me a favor?"

"Yeah. Sure. What do you want?" Jake asked, turning his focus back to his locker as he retrieved his books for first and second period.

"Explain this to me."

The tone in her voice didn't quite match the smile she had been wearing. Cautiously, Jake turned his head to find her holding up her phone. On the screen was a picture of him. Kissing Suri. He felt his heart sink. "Who sent you that?"

"Blake." Becky replied.

Jake frowned. "Becky, it's not what it looks like."

"It isn't?" Becky blinked. "So you _didn't_ kiss your ex-girlfriend?"

"_She_ kissed _me_." Jake defended. "It was completely random."

Becky snorted in disbelief. "Whatever Jake." She shoved her phone into her pocket and started to walk away.

"Aw come on, Becky!" Jake shouted after her, but she ignored him. "Son of a bitch!" He swore and slammed his fist against the neighboring locker, sending his crutches to the floor. As he stooped to pick them up, he found himself on the receiving end of a very disappointed glare from the ever so quiet and stealthy sophomore principal.

"You are aware of the school's policy regarding the use of profanity, aren't you Mr. Furlong?" Miss Mow asked in a quiet, yet somehow piercing, voice.

Jake shot a nervous look to the side. This was his first actual encounter with the sophomore principal, but he'd heard she wasn't very nice. "Yes ma'am," he replied as politely as possible.

"How unfortunate." She said coldly. "You will spend detention today writing me an essay on how to better express yourself and your feelings."

"But I..." Jake started to try and explain that he _couldn't_ stay for detention. Miss Mow held up one of her thin, perfectly manicured paws.

"Three thirty this afternoon, Mr. Furlong. And not a moment later." She then stalked off, her heels somehow not making a sound on the tiled floor.

Jake groaned and pulled his phone out of his pocket. Chance was going to be pissed. Really pissed! He'd been very specific about needing Jake's help in the garage that afternoon. Handling the Swat Kat missions solo had left him bogged down in work orders, and with it being only a three day work week courtesy of Thanksgiving, there was no way he could catch up by himself.

"Bad day?"

Jake's eyes narrowed into thin angry strips of emerald. "Aren't you supposed to be staying away from me?"

"Oh, yeah that." Miranda rolled her eyes. "You know, it was hard work convincing my mother that I wasn't stalking you. And it looks like my attempts to break you and Becky up were pointless, seeing as you're capable of doing it on your own."

"Who said we were breaking up?" Jake glared at her as he shifted his backpack and tucked his crutches under his arms.

"Girls aren't usually very forgiving when they're cheated on." Miranda smirked.

"I didn't cheat on her."

"You kissed another girl."

Jake huffed loudly. "Why am I not surprised you know about this too? I did not kiss Suri. She kissed me. It was completely spontaneous." He looked passed her. "Besides, she's got a boyfriend."

"You didn't exactly tell her that you had a girlfriend." Miranda added.

"And where exactly were you hiding Saturday?" Jake glared.

"I am a well-cultured individual that happens to be very fond of classical music." Miranda turned up her nose. "It isn't all about you, ya know."

"Right." Jake shook his head. "I have to get to class before I'm doubling up on detention. Just... stay out of my business for once, okay?"

* * *

"Customarily," Jake rolled his eyes and folded his arms over his chest as he spoke with the disgruntled customer. "If you want us to fix _everything_ that's wrong with your car, then you don't tell us not to do any additional repairs."

Chance, who'd been moving the next vehicle into the garage, cringed at the tone the teenager was using. It wasn't quite blatantly disrespectful, but there was an edge to Jake's voice that was practically daring the customer to lose his cool.

"Well maybe you should have been more specific about what was wrong with my car." The middle aged tom replied through clenched teeth. "I'm not paying for work that wasn't done."  
"Okay, well, in the meantime, there was work done and you have an obligation to pay for it." Jake replied snidely.

"What's the problem here?" Chance quickly intervened, shooting a quick glare at Jake before looking at the customer.

"The problem is that you guys didn't fix my car, and I'm not going to pay for it." The customer huffed at Chance. "And with the kind of attitude I'm getting from this kitten you got working for you, I'm definitely not coming back."

"Oh please, like you..."

"Jake." Chance cut him off with an icy glare. "Go take care of some of that paperwork on the desk."

Jake looked as if he might force the issue but resigned himself to following the order.

"Is that your kid?" The customer asked.

"Yeah." Chance fixed the customer with a patient look. "Now what's going on?"

Jake leaned back in the desk chair and slowly rested his broken leg on the desktop. There wasn't any paperwork that needed to be done. Even as he scowled at the frosted glass on the door separating the small office from the work area, he knew he'd been in the wrong. It wasn't much longer before the door was pulled open and he was on the receiving end of the tabby's glare once again.

"What the hell was that all about?" Chance asked.

"That tom was a total ass, Chance." Jake replied sullenly. "He wasn't planning on paying for the work we did from the beginning and thought he could argue his way out of it."

"It was just a misunderstanding in how I worded the repairs that needed to be done." Chance explained. "If you would have been a little more patient instead of getting an attitude with a customer, it wouldn't have been a problem."

"Yeah well..." Jake's ears twitched back in irritation. "Maybe he shouldn't have had an attitude from the start."

Chance breathed out a long sigh before responding, fighting the urge to say something about how it didn't matter who started it. "What's going on, Jake? You can't possibly be in this bad of a mood because of detention."

Jake shrugged his shoulders, a move that made it look like he was trying to make himself less visible. "Nothing."

"Nah I know better than that." Chance smirked. "What happened at school today?"

"I told you. I got detention for swearing. Miss Mow is such a bitch." Jake hissed.

Chance looked upwards, sending out a silent prayer for more patience. "She was just doing her job. And you've got detention before and never got this upset over it, so something else had to happen. Was it Miranda? Is she bugging you again?"

Jake shook his head. "No more than usual," he mumbled.

"Okay. Well Jason is in Juvie until who knows when, so it couldn't have been him." Chance furrowed his brow and scratched his chin. "What's going on with Becky?" That had to be it. Normally those two are constantly on the phone with each other and it had been three days without so much as peep from her. Jake's frown deepened, as solid an affirmation as anything. "Well?"

Jake sighed loudly and dug his claw into a chip in the desk. "You remember when we ran into Suri at the recital this weekend and she kissed me?"

"Yeah." Chance replied.

"Well... apparently Blake saw it, snapped a picture and sent it to Becky." Jake said with disgust.

Chance's eyes widened. What a dirty thing to do. "Did you tell her how it happened?"

"I tried." Jake chewed his bottom lip for a few seconds. "But she didn't believe me."

"And what did Blake have to say?"

"I sent him a text telling him he was an asshole, and that he had no business sending her that picture." Jake hissed. "He said that he felt like it was the 'right thing to do'."

Chance remained silent for a moment. "Did she break up with you?"

"I don't know." Jake said, frustration evident in her voice.

"You don't know?" Chance fought the urge to laugh.

"She didn't say that she was breaking up with me. She just stomped off and won't talk to me." Jake threw his paws up in a frustrated gesture.

"Well there are two ways you can handle this." Chance sat down on the desk. "First, you can apologize."

"But I didn't do anything wrong." Jake interrupted.

"Jake, let me tell you something about girls. No matter what happens, we're wrong." Chance said with a short laugh. "Your other option is to play the waiting game."

"Which means...?"

"It means, you already tried talking to her. Now you just gotta wait for her to say whatever it is she's going to say or do whatever it is she's going to do." Chance shrugged.

"That's not really all that helpful, Chance." Jake pouted.

"Yeah well... it's all I got." Chance smirked. "In the meantime... can ya stop taking out your bad day on our customers?"

* * *

Jake shivered as a gust of cold wind ruffled his fur. "Hurry up, Charlie!" He buried his paws in the warm fleece lined pockets of his bomber jacket, but nothing was going to stop the cold from reaching his exposed left toes. Several feet away, Charlie hobbled in a circle as she found the right spot to do her business. While he waited, Jake checked his phone... again. He'd tried talking to Becky again but she was downright ignoring him. She wasn't answering her phone either. So he'd left her a short voicemail saying that he was sorry and then sent her a text urging her to listen to said voicemail. That was Tuesday. It was now Wednesday afternoon and they were about to leave for Pawline Springs. They were going to spend Thanksgiving with Rita's family, though Jake was pretty sure they'd see Melissa... and Blake. Jake tried to keep reminding himself that punching his 'friend' wasn't going to solve anything.

"You just about ready?" Chance asked, pulling Jake from his thoughts.

Jake looked up and spotted Charlie simply hobbling around, sniffing various things. "Yeah." He grabbed his crutches. "I can't wait to see how the house really looks."

Rita had called Mr. Dalton to see if he'd oversee the renovations while they were being made, and he'd told Rita that her grandmother's house hadn't looked that nice since it was built.

"You and me both." Chance chuckled. "I already have your stuff in the car. You know the drill."

"Pick up Rita and then hit the road." Jake replied.

"Yep." Chance said as they neared the SUV. "C'mere Charlie." The black dog made her way to Chance, where he gently picked her up and set her in the backseat. "Try not to let her move too much."

"Yeah I know." Jake slid in on the other side, putting his crutches behind the seat with their luggage. By five they were on the road. It would be late by the time they got in, and then an early start so Rita could start cooking.

* * *

"Mable said your cousin Stephen and his wife and kits are going to be there." Rita had been babbling excitedly about what she was going to be cooking; all of which was divided up between the cooler and several grocery bags in the back. "And my cousin Jolynn is bringing her boys."

"Aunt Jo's coming?" Chance's ears perked. Though technically she was his second cousin, he'd grown up calling her Aunt Jo. She was probably his favorite.

"It's going to be a full house." Rita smiled.

Behind them, Jake let his gaming device thump against the seat as he leaned to see the time on the radio. They'd been driving for almost three hours. Chance had been pretty clear about not stopping so that they would make it in as early as possible. Jake looked down at the empty plastic bottle beside him and back up at the time. "Can we stop?"

Chance's ears dipped forward at the request. "We're an hour out."

"I know." Jake looked apologetic. "But I _really_ need to go to the bathroom and I'm _starving_."

Chance glared at him in the rear view before looking at his mother. "You need anything?"

"Actually, I'm getting kind of hungry myself." Rita instantly took the teen's side.

Chance sighed. "Alright, but let's not waste too much time. I don't want to get there any later than ten." He took the next exit and started to pull into a burger joint.

"Oh let's not eat here, Chance. Their food is _so_ greasy and it gives me terrible heartburn." Rita shook her head.

Chance frowned. "Okay. Where do you want to eat?"

"Let's go to that seafood place across the street." Rita suggested, pointing at the nicer restaurant.

"That sound good to you, Jake?" Chance asked.

"Yeah sure." Jake shrugged, a clear sense of urgency in his voice.

* * *

Chance looked down at the time as he pulled into the long drive. It was almost eleven. He shook his head but couldn't really be mad. He'd enjoyed dinner with his family. And, even though it had taken longer than usual to make the trip, it was probably the smoothest trip they'd made. "Alright." Chance said, turning to look at Jake. "Go unlock the door and turn the heat on." He handed him the keys.

Jake took them and pulled his crutches out of the back. While he took care of getting the lights on and warming the place up, Chance and Rita started unloading everything.

"I'll get that." Chance brushed his mom away as she struggled with one of the heavier items. "Take those suitcases and go inside with Jake."

Rita grumbled something about being old but not useless as she pulled the luggage towards the porch. She paused in the light to get a good look. The chipping wood had been replaced with beautiful vinyl siding, and the large porch had been sanded down and re-stained to a beautiful blonde. As she made her into the house, she noticed that the floors had been refinished and the walls repainted. The integrity of the house was still there, but now there was central heat and air. The kitchen had been updated, as well as the bathroom, with a second one added upstairs.

"So what do you think?" Jake asked, sitting down on the new couch.

"It's beautiful." Rita gushed, planting a kiss on his cheek. "Thanks sugar."

Jake shrugged, his cheeks blossoming beneath his fur.

By the time everything was in the house, it was a comfortable temperature. It was also getting later by the minute. Once Rita made sure all the food was put up and double checked to make sure had everything she needed to cook in the morning, she said goodnight to her boys and went to bed. Jake eyed the long staircase and then his crutches. "So how boring is tomorrow going to be?"

Chance couldn't help but laugh. "Well... I think Aunt Jo's boys are your age, but I don't know if you'll have any common ground. And I didn't even know Stephen got married." He sucked in a breath between his teeth. "I'd tell you to bring your game but Aunt Mable might think you're being rude."

Jake frowned. "Awesome."

"Agreed. I think Ma's got the right idea. We should get some sleep." Chance suggested and waited for Jake to make his way up the stairs before following him. Charlie slowly followed, taking each step with caution.

* * *

Chance turned his attention from his cousin Stephen and the loud kittens playing out in the yard to the lone figure slouched on the couch. He could hear his mother, Aunt Jo and Stephen's wife Sara all chattering in the kitchen. It was occasionally broken by the frail voice of Aunt Mable. It really was a surprise that she was still here. As Chance walked around so that he could get a better view of Jake, he caught the teen's glassy vacant staring at the television and smirked before dropping heavily onto the couch. "What are you watching?"

"Huh?" Jake jerked his head up.

"Were you just sleeping with your eyes open?" Chance laughed.

"Was I?" Jake shook his head. "Chance, I'm so bored. You have no idea how much this sucks."

"You could always go see if Mom needs any help." Chance offered. A loud laugh erupted from the kitchen.

Jake shot Chance a withering look. "I'd rather die of boredom."

"Can't say that I blame you." Chance huffed. "There's gotta be something we can do around here." He got up. "I'll be back."  
Jake watched him leave before shooting a glare out the window at all of the kits playing a game of football with Stephen. Sure they all seemed nice, but the minute he mentioned throwing around the ball, they all went for it, leaving Jake, who couldn't play, by himself. "This sucks," he said. He heard the click of heels on the hardwood and jerked his head towards the kitchen.

"Jake, right?" It was Sara.

Jake nodded. "Yes ma'am," he replied politely.

"I can't believe they all just up and left you by yourself." She clicked her tongue and sat down a little plate in front of him. "Don't tell anyone, okay? If Steve knew I was letting someone other than him have first dibs on my cookies, he'd blow a gasket."

Jake eyed the peanut butter cookies with surprise. They smelled good and looked even better. "Thanks," he said.

"So how did you break your leg?" Sara asked, sitting beside the boy.

Jake's ears flattened. "Playing football."

Sara huffed. "And there they are. Practically rubbing it in your face that you can't play! I ought to go out there and tell them to come back inside and to stop leaving you out."

Jake shook his head. "No. It's okay. I mean, they don't really know me and they were probably all planning on playing today anyway." He nodded his head at the small television. "And the games on anyway."

"Well they can't play for too much longer. I know we will be eating soon." Sara stood up, patting him on the shoulder, and left him alone. A few minutes later, Chance returned with a deck of cards. "This should help pass some of the time."

* * *

Jake resented being relegated to the 'kitten's table'. Chance had been right about him probably not having anything in common with Jolynn's boys. They were sixteen, and twin seventeen year olds and all very much concerned with college parties, she-kats, and cars. Stephen and Sara's kittens were a little younger at ten and twelve. Both boys who loved football and hunting. Despite the age gap, all five clearly saw each other quite often, as they were very close and had a lot to say to each other. Jake was the odd kat out. The new kit. The quiet one with the broken leg. He propped his head up on his paw while he plunged his fork into the mac and cheese casserole.

"So how'd you break your leg?" Michael, the youngest of them all, finally asked.

Jake had a fleeting urge to make up some outlandish story, but quickly negated the idea. "Football. Last game of the season and I got crushed by a bus."

Todd, one of the twins, choked out a loud laugh. "Yeah well... look at you. How much do you weigh? A buck ten?"

Jake bristled at the insult. "I'm fast."

"Clearly not fast enough." Tyler, the other twin, added.

Jake bit the inside of his cheek hard. It wasn't like he hadn't already heard all the short and small jokes there were.

"Are you any good?" Bradley, Michael's brother, asked.

"Yeah." Jake replied. "It helps to have someone that can run circles around all the big guys on the field."

"I can't wait to play in high school. In my town, being on the football team is like being a celebrity." Bradley joked, drawing a chuckle out of the other boys. The ice was broken. And suddenly things weren't so bad.

By that evening, everyone else had gone, leaving Rita with the responsibility of cleaning up. She and Chance had just finished putting all the food away when she shooed Jake away from the sink. "I'll take care of those, baby. Why don't you go watch television with Mable?"

Jake shot a look out of the kitchen towards the living room. "Are you sure?"

"Yes I'm sure. You need to stay off that leg as much as possible so it can heal up." Rita ushered him out of the kitchen. "Chance! Get in here and help me do these dishes!" She shouted at her son as he came back in from taking out the trash.

"I thought you were doing the dishes." Chance glared at Jake as he passed him.

"I got told to stop." Jake smirked and headed towards the living room.

Aunt Mable wasn't sitting in her old chair. Instead, she was on the couch. Both her paws were on her cane, and her head was slightly tilted as she watched the movie playing on the tv. She was so still that it unnerved Jake and he hesitated. "Sit down, boy," she urged with a slight laugh in her voice. Jake eased himself down on the spot next to her, leaning his crutches against the arm of the couch. "What are you watching?" He asked politely, nodding his head at the black and white film.

"Do you know that they have shown this every year since I remember owning a television set?" Aunt Mable asked without looking away.

"How long ago was that?" Jake asked.

"1956," Aunt Mable replied. "I was a teenager then and Rita hadn't even been born." She sucked in a deep breath and raised her paw. She brought it down firmly on Jake's knee, giving it a firm squeeze before pulling it back to her cane with the other. "Boy, why don't you go an get me another glass of your granny's tea."

Jake furrowed his brow and looked at the coffee table. She didn't have a glass. "But you..."

"Go on now. Get." Aunt Mable urged in a tired voice.

Not wanting to appear rude, Jake immediately grabbed his crutches and pulled himself up. He hesitated for a moment and rested one of them back against the couch. He needed a free paw.

"I thought I told you to sit down." Rita scolded when Jake appeared back in the kitchen.

"I was. But then I was told to get some tea." Jake started to go for a glass but she gently slapped his paw.

"I'll get it." Rita went to the fridge and filled it up. When she turned around, she found the teen nibbling on a left over cookie. "You can't possibly still be hungry."

Jake offered only a sheepish look as he held the treat between his teeth to take the glass. "..ank-u.." He mumbled around the cookie as he began his slow return to the spacious living room.

Aunt Mable was sitting with her head down and her eyes shut. Jake let out a quiet sigh of exasperation as he sat back down a little more heavily than he'd intended. It jarred the elderly she-kat. "Sor..." Jake started to apologize for waking her when he realized that she was falling towards him. He threw his paws out to stop her. "Au... Aunt Mable?" Her gray head seemed to loll. Jake felt a twinge of panic start to well up inside of his chest as he raised a shaking paw. His index and middle finger pressed firmly into the soft fur and flesh of her neck and felt nothing.

* * *

"That's the last of the dishes." Chance said as he attempted to dry his paws on an already damp dishrag. "Anything else?"

"Nope." Rita smiled. "This was really nice! I hope we can do this again for Christma..."

"CHANCE!"

Both mother and son in the kitchen were startled by the shout and remained frozen for a moment before hurrying into the living room. "What's wrong?" Chance asked, finding Jake standing a foot away from the couch, leaning heavily on his unbroken leg and looking very much as if he'd seen a ghost.

"Mable?" Rita gasped, drawing her son's attention to the couch. "No. Mable!" She patted her oldest and only remaining sibling on the cheek.

"Rita." Jake said in a meek voice. "I swear, like, five minutes ago, she asked me to get her some tea. She was fine when I left."

Rita turned her head sharply to glare at the teen. "Jacob," she said in a quiet but firm voice. "Now you listen and you listen good. This." She tilted her head to make sure she was looking him in the eyes. "This isn't your fault." Then she turned to Chance. "Son, there's a list of numbers tacked up by the phone in the kitchen. The emergency number should be on it."

"On it." Chance said before leaving the room.

"Um..." Jake could hear his heart beating in his ears, which felt disturbingly ironic. "What... what do you want me to do?"

Rita's eyes were back on her sister. She gently grazed her thumb-claw across Aunt Mable's gray cheek. "Go with Chance," she said softly.

Chance looked up as Jake was limping into the kitchen. "Right. That's the address," he confirmed to the operator. "Thanks." He hung up the phone and gave his ward an assessing look. The young tom was visibly trembling. "You alright?"

Jake's head snapped up. "Shouldn't you be asking your mom that?"

"She's not the one that saw someone die." Chance reminded.

"I didn't see her d..." Jake abruptly stopped and lowered her voice. "She was alive when I left. And then she wasn't. I thought she fell asleep or something and when I sat down, she fell on me."

Chance disguised the ill-timed laugh with a cough. He watched another shudder work through Jake's slender frame. He nodded his head in the direction of the small table in the breakfast nook. "Look, why don't you just stay in here for a little while?"

Jake nodded stiffly before hobbling on his crutches over to the wooden table overlooking a view of the large backyard.

* * *

"Can you help me lay her down?" Rita asked Chance, her voice still soft.

"Sure." Chance brushed his mother away and took charge of moving his aunt so that her body was lying stretched across the sofa. "Now what?"

Rita heaved a deep breath. "Well, now we wait for the ambulance to come and take her."

"That's not what I meant." Chance replied, hoping it didn't come across as sarcasm.

"I.. I guess I need to make a few calls." Rita's voice wavered. "We might have to stay here a little longer than planned."

"You just tell me what you want me to do and I'll do it." Chance offered, placing a paw on one of his mother's ever-steady shoulders.

* * *

Unable to sleep, Chance found himself in the newly renovated kitchen, filling a ceramic mug with milk. He put it in the microwave and turned it on, absently wondering if the beeping from the buttons could be heard upstairs. He doubted his mother would sleep restfully. She was the strongest she-kat he knew, but family was very important to her, and he knew the loss of her sister had to be weighing heavily on her heart. His gaze drifted to the window and out to the thick darkness beyond the glass. The microwave let out the elongated shrill sound, alerting the tabby that it was done doing what he wanted it to do. Chance removed the warm cup and headed for the stairs. As he passed the ajar door leading to the room Jake was sleeping in, a strangled meow caught his attention. Rolling his eyes and wondering 'now what', Chance pushed open the door and poked his head in. The teen had brought his laptop, and it created a ghostly glow that illuminated a figure sitting upright in the bed. "Jake," Chance hissed, stepping into the room. "Everything okay?"

Jake jerked his head in Chance's direction, his eyes wide in the dark. He gave a jerky nod. "Just had a weird dream."

There was another movement near Jake. It was Charlie. She'd evidently been sleeping right beside him, taking up an entire pillow to herself.

"What about?" Chance asked, watching as Jake slowly moved a paw to pet the dog.

"I... I'm not sure really." Jake let out a nervous chuckle. "I just felt like someone was breathing in my face and I couldn't see who it was, but the smell was awful. And then this freaking cold as ice paw grabbed me." He shivered. "And then I woke up and it was Charlie's bad breath right in my nose."

Chance couldn't help the amused snort. "Got a little creeped out, huh?"

"Well until I realized it was the dog..." Jake replied.

"I meant about earlier. With Aunt Mable." Chance clarified.

"I think..." Jake bit his lip in a moment of silent contemplation. "I think that it's more of how quickly it happened than that it actually happened. I mean you just don't expect someone to be alive one minute and then not the next without something catastrophic happening."

"She was really old." Chance reminded.

"Still... the fact that kats just..." Jake skimmed over the word. "... without any warning... it was just..."

"It happens all the time." Chance pointed out. He took a sip of his milk. "Get some sleep." He pointed at the laptop. "It helps to not go to bed watching campy horror films... especially after stuff like this."

Jake's face twisted into a guilty wince. "You're probably right." He reached over to close the computer resting on the old bedside table. "Is Rita okay?"

"She'll be alright." Chance replied. "But it wouldn't hurt to give her a paw with getting things together."

"Right." Jake nodded his head. "Goodnight Chance."

"'Night kiddo." Chance said, closing the door all but a couple of inches as he left.

* * *

Jake tugged at the knot on his tie and looked around the stuffy church. It was hard to believe it was nearly freezing outside by how warm it was inside. His eyes drifted from the mostly empty pews to the flower covered pine coffin at the front of the church and then over to Rita, who was talking quietly with Pastor Wallace near his podium. When she made a gesture in his direction, he instinctively sank down where he was sitting to appear less noticeable. She was no doubt telling him how her poor sister had died on him. But then the pair started walking in his direction, Rita's plain black dress billowing around her like an ominous cloud.

"Jake, would you mind doing me a favor?" Rita asked, the pastor coming to a stop beside her.

"Sure." Jake straightened and cleared his throat. "What do you...?" He trailed off.

"It's just that... well Mable for years has played the piano for the church and there isn't anyone else. Would you mind playing 'Amazing Grace' for her?" Rita seemed almost nervous, something the youth wasn't used to.

Jake nodded his head. "I can do that. I mean... as long as I don't have to sing it too." The last part was meant in jest, but it seemed to go unnoticed.

"Thank you, sugar." Rita smiled and leaned down to kiss him on the top of the head.

There was quite a large turnout for the quickly arranged service. Most of the small town had showed up. Jake felt a knot twist in his stomach when he saw Melissa talking to Chance. Blake was sitting beside her looking completely bored. Jake was actually grateful to be separated from everyone else. His seat at the piano kept him from telling Blake just how he felt about his little stunt, and he cracked his knuckles to ease the anxiety he suddenly felt. Once everyone was settled into the church, Pastor Wallace began his long winded service. Jake struggled to keep from fidgeting until he was given the cue to play. It was almost funny to the teen that he'd been asked to play that particular song, as Mr. Spieker liked to use "Amazing Grace" in class as a warm up piece and to teach the art of embellishing a piece by adding one's own little flare to it. Jake resisted the urge, however, to stray from the traditional sound, with the exception of playing a few minor chords to give it a more gospel feel. As the final notes hung in the air, he instinctively cringed against the mournful cry of a she-kat that, apparently, knew Aunt Mable very well.

From there, the service was moved from the small church to the cemetery behind it. After quietly saying something to his mother that brought a smile to her face, Chance turned to look at Jake and found the place he'd been standing to be vacant. He looked around, catching a glimpse of the boy sitting down in one of the folding chairs that had been set out.

"Hey kiddo." Chance dropped into the next chair, flailing as one of the legs unexpectedly sunk into the ground.

Jake laughed out loud, earning a sharp look from someone he didn't know.

"You alright?" Chance asked after shifting the chair so that it was more stable. "Bored?"

"A little. And my armpits were starting to hurt from these crutches." Jake frowned.

"Well we should be going in a little bit. Mom wants to head over to Aunt Mable's house so everyone can come by there." Chance stretched.

"Why?" Jake's frown deepened.

"To, you know, pay their respects." Chance pointed out.

"Isn't that what all this is for?" Jake groaned.

"We won't be there too long." Chance promised. "Stephen and Sara are handling this."

* * *

Despite the cold cloudy weather, Jake found himself sitting on the front steps of Aunt Mable's house. He just couldn't stand hearing another "I remember when" story. As he picked a splintered plank with one of his claws, he heard another car pulling into the drive and looked up. A smile split his face when he saw Sandra getting out with a covered dish. She walked behind her parents. Jake immediately pushed himself up, supporting himself on the railing while he reached for one of his crutches so that he could go to the door and open it for them.

"Hey," he said to Sandra.

"Hey yourself." Sandra replied with a shy smile. "Mama, you remember Jake, right? From this summer?"

The look her mother gave him was enough to turn fire straight into ice. "I sure do," the she-kat said in an overly friendly voice. "It looks like you haven't kept yourself out of trouble."

Jake followed her sharp gaze down to his broken leg. "I... um..."

"Sandra, go inside before you drop that dish." Her mother ordered.

Sandra shot Jake an apologetic look before going in. Jake shook his head and went back to his spot on the steps. It wasn't much longer before Sandra came back outside. "These things are always so boring," she said.

"No kidding." Jake replied. "So... you miss me?"

"A little." Sandra said with a blush. "Blake's always talking about how awesome Megakat City is at school."

Jake narrowed his eyes but didn't say anything.

"I'm actually a little surprised that he's inside instead of out here with you." She went on. "Sounds like you two have become really good friends."

"Yeah." Jake focused on a spot in the yard.

Sandra's tail twitched. "What happened? Are you two fighting?"

"Why don't you ask him that and then come back and tell me what he says?" Jake huffed. When she simply stared at him, he sighed. "Look, I don't really wanna talk about this."

"Okay." Sandra stood up.

"Where you going?" Jake jerked his head around.

"Inside. It's cold out here." Sandra replied matter-of-fact before going in the door.

It wasn't much longer before the door swung open again and Blake's heavy footsteps stopped just behind Jake.

"What did you tell Sandra?"

Jake recoiled in disbelief. "I didn't tell her anything. But I'm sure, when she asked why I was pissed off at you, you came up with some elaborate lie."

"Are you saying that you _didn't_ kiss another girl?" Blake smirked.

"You don't know anything about Suri." Jake stood up.

"Aww. What's the matter, Furlong? Did Becky break up with you?" He taunted.

"Why? Are you hoping she will so you can swoop in and take advantage of her?" Jake hissed back. "She's not easy like her little friend."

"Ha!" Blake laughed. "You should read the dirty little text messages she sends me."

"That's bullshit." Jake growled, not looking up when the door opened again. Sandra stood just near enough for him to see her in his peripheral vision.

"Come on you two." She encouraged. "Just shake and be friends."

"I'm just trying to prove a point." Blake played the innocent card again. "She's not that interested in you, Jake. She wants a real tom, a mature one."

"Yeah. Like the kind that sticks his nose into other kats' business?" Jake huffed. "You don't know anything about what happened. All you wanna do is get her to break up with me so you can pull the same crap you pulled with Jessica."

"And you're just jealous because I could get farther with her than you." Blake smirked. "Or maybe she isn't your type."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Jake clenched his fists.

"Oh come on! The girl's a total slut and you haven't made a move? You're either stupid or queer."

* * *

"We'll probably just sell the house." Stephen said to Chance as they stood in the kitchen. "Unless there's anything Aunt Rita wants... or you guys."

"Maybe Mom." Chance shrugged, shoving his paws into his pants pockets. "I'd be afraid to take anything, especially when I've gone my whole life being told not to touch half this stuff."

Stephen chuckled. "You've got a point. I don't know what I'm gonna do with..."

A loud shout caused both toms to look towards the other room and then back at each other before going to the living room.

"What's going on?" Chance asked, seeing Melissa run out the door, followed by Sandra's parents.

* * *

Jake felt Blake's nose snap under the force of his punch. Then Blake squawked loudly, stumbling backwards.

"Son of a bitch!" Blake shouted, catching the blood in his paws. He looked up at Jake with hatred. Then he growled loudly and swung wildly. Jake moved out of the way and angled one of his crutches so that it hit Blake in the stomach. He dropped to his knees with a loud gasp as the front door flew open.

"Blake!" Melissa cried as she ran out onto the porch. She dropped to her knees beside her gasping son and then shot daggers up at Jake. "What on earth is wrong with you?"

"What?" Jake shook his head. "He's the one running his mouth."

"He did a good thing telling that girl that you were seeing someone else!" Melissa defended.

"What the hell is going on?" Chance snarled loudly.

"Your... whatever he is..." Melissa turned and pointed at Chance. "Just punched my baby!"

Chance bristled. "Jake wouldn't hit someone if they didn't do something to deserve it." He looked at Jake expectantly. "Which I'd love to hear."

Jake looked at Sandra for backup. "He called Becky a slut and then said I was gay because I wasn't whoring myself out like he is."

Sandra sighed loudly but confirmed what he said. That's when her mother said in a disgusted voice that they didn't have time for such behavior and they left.

"Well?" Melissa huffed at Chance. "What are you going to do about it?"

Chance pursed his lips in thought before nodding his head at the door. "Jake... go get him some ice and some paper towels."

"That's it?" Melissa gasped. "That's all you're going to do is send him on an errand? He hit him, Chance! This kind of behavior is unacceptable! If Blake had done something like this, I would have..."

"You would have what?" Chance's voice was low and full of venom. "Jake is my responsibility and I will deal with this. I don't need your input on how to do so." Melissa stared up at him with her jaw slack and a shimmer in her eyes. He looked from her to Jake. "Why the hell are you still standing there? Go get some paper towels before he bleeds all over the damn porch!"

* * *

"It wasn't my fault." Jake huffed sullenly from the backseat.

"I don't care whose fault it was." Chance gripped the steering wheel tightly.

"I told you what he said." Jake glared at the back of Chance's head.

Rita turned in her seat and leveled him with an icy stare. "Jacob, I don't care one way or another if Blake deserved it or not. Instead of making a scene at the most inappropriate time and place, you should have just let it go and walked away. Now I don't want to hear one more word about it."

Jake's jaw audibly snapped shut and he sank down in the seat with a sulk. He didn't care if Melissa was pissed about it and refused to ever speak to Chance again, but he couldn't understand why Rita and Chance were so torn up about it.

It was a short drive back to Grammy Furlong's old house. "Go let the dog out," Chance ordered in a grumpy tone as he got out. Jake narrowed his eyes at his guardian as he walked ahead of him, fighting the urge to point out how the tabby was going to get to the door first. He dutifully waited outside while Charlie limped around the yard, sniffing the ground and chewing on sticks before finally deciding to do what she'd been put out to do. "Come on!" Jake snapped at her when she decided she wasn't done enjoying the scenery. Ears low and tail tucked, she slowly hobbled back to the porch and eased her way up the steps. He followed her into the house and started to go sit on the couch.

"Is all your stuff packed and ready to go in the morning?" Rita asked before he could manage to get comfortable.

"Uh..." Jake gave her a guilty look.

"Go get packed up and then go to bed."

Jake frowned. "But it's only..."

"I don't care what time it is." Rita's tone dared him to say another word about it.

Jake couldn't resist an irritated "ugh" as he left the room. He did, however, manage to avoid slamming the door.

* * *

Chance looked down at the ringing cell phone. He could easily see "Melissa" on the screen, but he silenced it instead of answering. What did she want him to do? He didn't fault Jake for decking the little brat; it was the timing he was upset over. His ears twitched as a light clicking noise alerted him of someone walking towards his room and he opened the door before Jake could knock. "What are you doing up?"

Jake lowered his poised fist. "I couldn't sleep and Rita took my computer."

Chance moved out of the door and gestured towards the large four poster bed. Behind Jake, Charlie was doing her best impression of her owner as she limped in behind him. "So you're gonna bother me?"

Jake leaned his crutches against the wall and then pulled himself up onto the large bed with a wince. "Are you really mad at me over this?"

"I'm mad that you couldn't show a little restraint." Chance stooped to scratch Charlie behind her floppy ears, his knees popping loudly. "But I don't blame you for it."

"I bet Melissa is pretty mad that you didn't take her side." Jake added as he moved around some of Chance's pillows in an attempt to get comfortable. This bed was a lot softer than the one in his room.

"You honestly think I care?"

Jake looked up sharply. "Shouldn't you?"

Chance shook his head and then sighed loudly. "Hell I dunno, Jake. I don't know what I'm supposed to think. Where does she get off telling me how to do things? She's the one with the kid that's fooling around."

"I'm not sorry for hitting him." Jake said defensively.

"Yeah I bet you've been itching to knock his block off for a week now." Chance couldn't help but chuckle. Tired of watching the teen fidget, he grabbed one of the pillows and put it under the leg with the cast on it. "You know you really need to try and stay off this leg a little more."

Jake gave him his best "well duh" glare. Chance ignored it and walked around to the other side of the bed where his suitcase rested. He unzipped the front compartment and pulled out Jake's gaming device. "Here. Keep the volume down so Mom doesn't hear it."

"She's already gone to bed." Jake eagerly turned it on as Chance went for the door. "Where you going?"

"I'm kind of hungry. You want anything?" Chance asked as he pulled open the door.

"No thanks." Jake looked down at the toy. "Thanks."

"Yeah just don't rat me out." Chance joked.

"My lips are sealed." Jake grinned.

* * *

* * *

  



	10. Chapter 10

**_Thank you guys for all the well wishes. I am feeling much better now, and I hope to never ever get this crap again. =) I hope you all enjoy this chapter._**

* * *

Miss Summer's marker squeaked loudly as she wrote her notes on the board. "Please get these notes down quickly as I want to devote as much time to dissection as possible."

Jake scribbled down the notes, marking beside them what color to rewrite them in later. He'd heard that the pigeon was the worse. That's what they would be dissecting. To make matters worse... it was baked chicken day in the cafeteria. He tried not to think about lunch, having learned very quickly that he didn't particularly care for smell of formaldehyde or cutting up dead animals.

"I expect each of you to effectively remove the pigeon's kidneys, heart, and liver. I will deduct points for any cuts made to the intestines or the stomach."

Jake reached into his bag for a piece of candy to rid his mouth of the foul taste before he made himself sick just thinking about the task that lay ahead. As he did, he heard the soft buzzing of his phone vibrating in the inside pocket. Covertly, Jake opened the text message from Becky. Ordinarily he would have ignored it, but this was the first she'd tried to speak to him. The message read "see you at lunch?" Jake quickly replied "sure" before stuffing it back in his bag and bracing himself for the barbaric task ahead. He would still be smelling it through Algebra and into third period.

By the time lunch rolled around, Jake felt exhausted. He reminded himself that he absolutely _had_ to stay awake in German. That was his weak point and he needed to pay as much attention as possible if he wanted to keep up his grade up through finals.

"Hey Furlong." Fritz clapped him on the back. "A bunch of us are going to that renaissance thing in downtown tonight."

Jake couldn't help the way one of his eyebrows arched upward. "That Dickens Of A Christmas thing? Didn't think that was really your style."

Fritz rolled his eyes. "Are you going or not?"

Jake shrugged. "I dunno. If it means walking around all night..." He tapped his claws against his crutches. "I'm thinking I'd rather stay home." He cleared his throat as he looked around. "You seen Becky anywhere?"

Fritz looked around as well. "Yeah. Over there by the vending machines. Hey I thought you two weren't speaking."

"Guess she came to her senses." Jake smirked. "See you later."

"Yup." Fritz mock saluted as he hurried to get in the lunch line before it got too long.

"Hey stranger." Jake leaned up against the wall beside Becky, taking the opportunity to give his arms a break from the crutches.

"Hey." Becky twirled one of her claws through her hair. "So... how are you?"

"I'm alright." Jake shrugged. "You still mad at me?"

"You know Blake asked me if I wanted to go to a movie the next time he was in town, right?" Becky asked.

Jake made a 'huh' sound and looked down at the black and white tiled floor. "And what did you tell him?"

"That I was still seeing you." Becky replied, offering a nervous smile when he looked up in surprise.

"But a week ago you wouldn't even hear me out." Jake shook his head.

"Yeah. Well, I was mad. And then I thought that it was kind of funny how Blake sent me that picture and then asked me out." Becky exhaled loudly. "I know I'm not the smartest girl in the school, but even I could figure out what he was up to."

"Is he still trying to talk to you?"

Becky couldn't help the thrill she got from the obvious jealousy in his voice. "Not at the moment."

"Good." Jake smirked. "I'll call you tonight."

"You better." Becky smiled when he planted a soft kiss on her cheek.

* * *

"Jake..." Chance wiped his paws and leaned against the door frame leading into the office. "You alright?"

Jake had his face buried in his arms on the desk. "Ye-yeah." He cleared his throat loudly and pushed himself into a more upright position. "It was just a long day." He stretched and then shivered.

Chance frowned. The office wasn't the warmest place in the building, but Jake had been a huge help by keeping the books balanced for him. "Yeah. Maybe you should go on in and work on your homework. I've got this last car and I might actually be caught up until tomorrow." He joked.

Jake chuckled and shook his head. "Or not." He nodded his head in the direction of the open door.

Chance turned around to see a familiar green car pulling into the yard through the window. "Callie?" His ears perked up in surprise. He hadn't seen her in months... as Chance anyway.

"Weren't you supposed to call her?" Jake asked with a hint of mischief in his voice.

"What did you do?" Chance rounded on the teen.

"I didn't do anything." Jake feigned innocence as he got up and grabbed his crutches. "Incidentally, you might want to put that last car off until tomorrow so you can take a shower or something."

"For what?" Chance slammed his arm out to block the doorway.

"I hear that holiday thing they do downtown is pretty romantic. You know.. carriage rides and all that." Jake smirked.

"Why you sneaky little twerp." Chance hissed without any real heat. "And just what were you planning on doing tonight?"

"You mean besides the mountain and a half of homework I have?" Jake glared. "Is it cool if I order a pizza?"

Chance shook his head as the bell on the front door jingled. "I oughta let you starve."

"Careful," Jake teased. "I have a witness to your threats." He pushed Chance's arm out of his way and poked his head out. "Hey Miss Briggs!"

* * *

"I'm really sorry about Jake setting you up like this." Chance apologized to the Deputy Mayor as he purchased a cup of old fashioned hot apple cider for her.

"Thanks," Callie purred. "And I'd say you were the one that got set up. However, he did tell me it would be both of you going."

"Yeah well..." Chance looked up as a light shower of flurries began to fall. "I... I've been meaning to give you a call and see how you've been."

"You know.. .busy as always." Callie took a small sip of the warm drink. "Are you still seeing someone?"

"I dunno." Chance cringed.

"You don't know?" Callie looked up at him over the top of her glasses.

"It's complicated." Chance cleared his throat.

"Either you're dating or you aren't." Callie looked amused. "Which is it?"

"Well, we haven't exactly broken up, but we aren't speaking either." Chance scratched the back of his head. He let out a nervous laugh. "I like her but she really crossed a line. I mean you don't tell me what to do when it comes to Jake."

Callie's eyes widened. "She didn't."

"Jake and her boy got into it over a girl." Chance sighed. "And when he let her boy have it, she got mad when I didn't jump down his throat about it."

"I'm sure Jake wouldn't have done it if he didn't feel like it was deserved." Callie had always liked Jake.

"It could have had better timing." Chance grimaced. "But you're right. And he did deserve it. I didn't exactly applaud the behavior but she acted like I was supposed to jerk him up and whip his tail over it. And that might be how she disciplines Blake, but if she knew anything about me and Jake, she'd know not to even insinuate that I'd ever..." He trailed off, looking away as anger threatened to take over.

"Chance, I'm sorry." Callie offered.

"For what?" Chance looked surprised.

"That things aren't working out." Callie explained.

"Aren't you supposed to be secretly glad?" Chance joked.

Callie offered a small laugh in return. "I'll admit I was a little disappointed that you'd found someone else." She shook her head. "But I really do care about you, and I want you to be happy."

Chance stood still to look her in the eye, a little surprised. "You really mean that?"

"Of course I do." Callie smiled brightly. "Look I know I get kind of busy and I'm always somehow tied up in whatever the catastrophe of the week is, but I count you and Jake as real friends." She bit her lip.

Chance couldn't resist the urge to wipe a snow flake off her cheek. "It's getting late. Do you want a carriage ride or not?"

Callie laughed loudly. "Straight to the point as always. As a matter of fact, I'd love a carriage ride."

* * *

It was late when Chance unlocked the door, and it seemed like every single light in the small home was on. Before he could shout for Jake, a whimper caught his attention. Chance looked down to find Charlie nudging her empty water bowl and sighed. "If it wasn't for me you'd probably either starve to death or die from dehydration," he grumbled as he picked up the bowl and took it to the sink. After he filled it and set it down, he went into the living room and glared at the boy sprawled out on the couch. He swept his eyes from Jake, who was passed out with his German book open in his lap, to the coffee table where a pizza box was still open and littered with uneaten crust, to the television. Chance gaped at the intensely erotic scene playing on the screen. There was no way this was on the movie channels. "Jake!" Chance growled, popping Jake heavily on his right knee.

"Wha...?" Jake jerked upright. "Jeez!" He breathed, glaring at Chance. "You scared the hell out of me."

"What the hell is this?" Chance pointed at the tv.

Jake turned to look, ears perking forward at the site of a very hot she-kat with her head between another she-kat's legs.

"Hey!" Chance flicked him on the ear. "We aren't supposed to get these channels." He grabbed the remote and turned the channel, pressing the recall button and getting a blank screen with a 'call for subscription' message. He glared at Jake.

"What?" Jake flinched. "Free trial?"

"Yeah I bet." Chance huffed. "You get your homework done?"

"Uh..." Jake looked around for the notebook he was supposed to have been writing in.

Chance rolled his eyes and started to walk away. "It's almost midnight."

"I know." Jake replied, struggling to get his school work in order. He'd meant to finish but then Becky called. And then... he felt the tips of ears burn as he hopped on one foot to get his crutches that were leaning against the recliner. Jake cleared his throat as he made an effort to clean up the pizza box and any other trash he left before falling asleep. "So how was your date with Callie?"

"It's not a date if you're tricked into going!" Chance shouted from somewhere on the other side of the small home.

"I'll take that as a good sign." Jake smirked when Chance returned to the living room.

"Finish your homework and go to bed." Chance said, not willing to give into the teen's attempts to pry.

"I got it." Jake replied with a lengthy sigh. "Jeez." He dropped back down onto the couch, sucking in a sharp breath when he knocked his broken leg against the coffee table.

Chance couldn't help but smirk. "That's what you get for watching porn."

Jake glared at the tabby as he pulled his German homework back into his lap.

"You're gonna pass that this year, right?" Chance asked, a hint of humor in his tone as he flipped through the channels.

"I passed it last year." Jake replied.

"Barely." Chance teased.

"You saw my midterm grades." Jake gave his own little smirk.

"That was a month ago." Chance said as he settled on the news, curious to see if the light snow would turn into anything to be concerned over.

"You can stop trying to make me nervous." Jake shook his head. He was silent for a few moments. "Speaking of finals..." He looked up from his work with a hopeful gleam in his eyes.

Chance countered with an expectant look. "Yeah?"

"Could I go over Becky's house on Saturday?"

Chance narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "What's that got to do with school?"

"She asked if I'd help her study." Jake broke away from Chance's steely gaze.

"Help her study what?"

"Math." Jake didn't look up.

"Why can't she come over here?" Chance fought the urge to grin when Jake's head snapped up.

"Because she... er.." Jake struggled for a good reason.

Chance shook his head, looking away as he started to laugh. "Is her grandmother going to be there?"

"Yeah." Jake fought the urge to cross his fingers.

Chance looked back at him, studying him for a few long moments. In his gut, he knew it was a bad idea, but Jake hadn't done anything to show he wasn't mature enough to be left alone with the girl... yet. "Yeah I guess so."

* * *

Becky waved goodbye to her grandmother and closed the door. She turned around and smiled mischievously at Jake. It was Bingo night, and shortly after Chance had dropped Jake off, one of Becky's grandmother's friends picked the elderly she-kat up for their weekly game, leaving the two teenagers alone.

"So..." Jake's tail twitched anxiously behind him. "Now what?"

Becky shrugged innocently. "You wanna watch a movie?"

"Okay." Jake followed her into the dimly lit and floral decorated living room. He sat on the couch after leaning his crutches against the recliner. "What are we going to watch?"

"Something boring." Becky winked. "You weren't really planning on paying a lot of attention, were you?"

"Ah... heh..." Jake smiled dumbly as she put on an older movie and sat down on the couch beside him. It was on the tip of his tongue to repeat his earlier "now what" when she kissed him. "So what am I supposed to say I helped you with?" He asked when she gave him time to breathe.

"Anatomy." Becky giggled.

Jake felt his heart race as she straddled him and then thrust her tongue into his mouth. His paws hovered behind her for a moment before safely resting them on her hips.

"You can touch me." Becky whispered in his ear.

"Wh... what?" Jake asked, shivering a little as her breath tickled him.

Becky straightened and put her paws on his, pushing them slowly down and then pulling at her skirt until he was touching the backs of her thighs, just below the hem of her panties. "I have a confession," she purred into his ear again as she lowered herself so that she was sitting on him once more.

"Uh huh?" Jake was torn between exploring how far she would let him go or bolting before he creamed his shorts.

"I'm not as innocent as I said I was," Becky said before turning her head so that she could nibble on his neck.

"You aren't?" Jake's eyes were closed and he was fighting the urge to grind against her.

"I might have fooled around a little more than I let on at first." Becky admitted.

"So you're not a virgin?" Jake had the sudden urge to lie and say that he wasn't either.

"Well _technically_ I've never had sex." Becky replied with a wiggle that sent an obvious wave of pleasure through her boyfriend. "But I've done some other things."

"L-like what?" He felt instantly relieved. She leaned close again and whispered something in his ear that drew an excited purr out of his throat. Becky giggled again.

"So do you want me to?" She asked in a sultry voice, her paw already on his zipper.

* * *

Chance was halfway up the walk when Jake came out of the house, shutting the door as soon as he was outside. "Hey, what's the rush? I was gonna talk to her gran for a second."

"Uh..." Jake had that deer-in-the-headlights look. "She was upstairs doing something. Becky said she'd tell her I left."

"Well I don't want to be rude." Chance stood still as Jake hobbled past him. He seemed jittery and nervous. "What's the rush?"

"What?" Jake froze. "I..." He floundered for a second. "I'm starving, Chance. I haven't eaten since breakfast."

"Okay. We're going to eat soon." Chance turned to followed Jake to the car, giving him a suspicious look. "Everything alright?"

"Yeah." Jake said a little too quickly. 'Better than alright,' he thought as he pictured the ring of lipstick he was having serious doubts about washing off.

"Okay." Chance gave him another doubtful glare before starting the car. "We're heading over to Mom's for dinner tonight."

"Okay." Jake peered into the backseat. "Are we gonna get Charlie first?"

"She'll be fine. She's walking a lot better and you know she hasn't gotten into the trash in weeks." Chance replied.

Jake didn't say anything. He shifted uncomfortably in the seat, watching Chance out of the corner of his eye every time his guardian shot him his own looks. "What?" He finally asked, his voice thick with annoyance.

"How did studying go?"

Jake rolled his eyes. "It was fine."

"What subject did you say she needed help with?" Chance couldn't put a claw on it, but he was determined to figure out what _really_ happened.

"Math." Jake replied, digging his paw into his pocket as his phone went off. He had a text from Becky.

"Who's that?" Chance asked.

"Jeez Chance." Jake glared at him, holding the phone so that he couldn't see the screen. "Why are you asking me all these questions?"

"I just want to know how your day was." Chance smirked. "Why are you being so defensive about it?"

"I'm not being defensive." Jake mumbled as he hastily replied to the message he'd been sent and shoved the phone into his pocket. "Why are _you_ being annoying?"

"Isn't that my job?" Chance fought the urge to laugh at how obviously riled he was making the teen.

"I'm pretty sure sticking your nose into my business wasn't listed in the legal guardian guidelines." Jake grumbled.

This time Chance _did_ laugh, earning a glare from the teen. "Last time I checked, your 'business' is what I'm responsible for." He was rewarded with a loud sigh and silence from the teenager until they got to Rita's house.

* * *

"Shoes!" Rita scolded Jake as he started to walk through her living room.

"Sorry Mom." Jake said as he pulled his one sneaker off and backtracked to set it next to Chance's. Rita brightened at the name. It was just a recent development that he started calling her that, and she wondered if he was simply experimenting with it or if it would be a permanent moniker.

"What are you making?" Chance asked, his stomach growling as he moved towards the kitchen. "It smells so good!"

"They had whole fryers on sale. I figured I would roast one." Rita beamed at the compliment. "Everything is ready. If y'all wanna go wash your paws, we can say grace and dig in."

Jake eyed the whole roasted chicken on the plate in the center of the table. It smelled good, but ever since that pigeon in biology, he had trouble looking at poultry. He'd skipped eating lunch that day and had been fortunate enough not to see it on the dinner plate... until now.

"Chance, honey, would you mind...?" Rita gestured to the chicken.

"Not at all." Chance was practically salivating. The aroma was intoxicating and the crispy looking skin gleamed under the dining room light.

Jake felt his stomach lurch at the sick sound it made when Chance detached the wings and legs. The tabby looked across the table at him expectantly. Jake normally went for one of the legs.

"You want one of these or do you want some of the breast meat?" Chance asked.

"I... uh..." Jake shook it off and picked up his plate. "Sure." He held it out so that Chance could put one of the legs on it. "Thanks."

Chance sliced some of the breast meat off for his mother as well as himself and then piled on a huge mound of potatoes. He passed them to Jake. "Hey," Chance snapped his claws by Jake's ear. "You enjoying the view from the clouds?"

"Sorry." Jake took the potatoes and scooped them onto his plate. He busied himself putting some of the other items on his plate but couldn't seem to distract himself from the leg. The exposed bone gleamed at him and the skin was pulled back, showing the juicy dark meat. "Don't be such a baby!" He scolded himself as he picked up the leg and started to pull a piece off. As it tore and shredded, his mind flashed back to the way the meat on the pigeon shredded as he pulled the bird apart to pull out its insides. Jake made a 'hurk!' sound, dropping the food and clamping a paw over his mouth.

"Jake!" Rita gasped, looking across the table the moment she'd heard the sound. There was a look of panic across his face. "Go!"

Jake nodded, heaving again behind his paw and half ran, half hopped on one foot out of the room. Rita set down her fork and knife and stood. "I'm just going to make sure he's okay."

Chance stood as well and started to follow her when he heard the buzzing of Jake's phone. He'd had it in the chair so that no one would see him texting at the dinner table. "Okay." He picked up the device and opened the message, eyes going wide at the picture the boy had been sent. Chance pocketed the phone and went to find Jake in the downstairs bathroom. Rita was hovering around him, trying to offer him a washrag.

"I've got this," Chance took the rag and ushered her out of the small bathroom. "What the heck just happened?"

Jake took the damp cloth and wiped his face. "You think Rita's feelings would be hurt if I skipped dinner?" He gave Chance a somewhat disgusted look before admitting that he was suddenly feeling very squeamish about eating animals.

"She'll be fine, but you're gonna need to eat something later." Chance sighed. "You can go watch tv or something."

Jake nodded and left the bathroom. As he walked towards the living room, he tried to force himself not to associate the smell of dinner with dead animals soaked in chemicals.

"Is he sick?" Rita asked in a near whisper as if it was a secret or something when Chance came back in the dining room.

"What?" Chance looked at her and then shook his head. "Nah. You remember when I was in school and we had to dissect a worm and you thought it would be funny to have spaghetti for dinner?"

"Yes I do." Rita chuckled. "I didn't expect you to think it was funny too."

"Yeah well..." Chance made a face. "He had a pigeon."

Rita frowned. "They made us dissect one in college for medical science." She shook her head. "I didn't know they were doing that on a high school level now. The worst part was pulling out all the feathers."

Chance grimaced. "I don't need the play by play."

"Oh I'm sorry son." Rita apologized. "I'll make him a plate... without the chicken of course."

* * *

The best part about Saturday nights was staying up late and watching movies on the science fiction channel. Except when the movies were so campy you couldn't even pretend to be interested. Chance was more disturbed by the terrible computer graphics and soap opera quality acting than the kat-eating aliens taking over the world. He turned to look at Jake, who was taking up two thirds of the couch. "Please tell me you aren't enjoying this one."

"I thought it was going to be so much better." Jake pouted. He'd been looking forward to this made-for-tv movie for two weeks. He tiredly pushed himself up, his flannel pajama pants making a swishing noise as the fabric rubbed against the cast on his leg.

"Then I'm changing it." Chance started flipping through the channels. He felt a vibration in his pocket and paused on a sappy romance. "That reminds me!"

Jake made a disgusted face at the corny film and glared at Chance. "What could _this_ remind you of?"

Chance pulled Jake's phone from his pocket and waved it at Jake. "You left this in the dining room at Mom's."

"Thanks." Jake reached for it only to have it snatched back.

"Let me ask you something." Chance moved the phone to his other paw. "Are you and Becky...?"

Jake met Chance's eyes. "Are we... what?"

Chance sighed. He knew Jake knew what he was asking. "Look Jake, I saw the pictures she sent you. That's how I knew you left your phone, because she sent you one and it went off. So just be honest with me, okay?"

"Okay." Jake felt his throat tighten.

"So are you?"

"No." Jake shook his head.

Chance bit the inside of his cheek, his eyes fixed on Jake's while he tried to determine if he was telling the truth. "Here's the thing... I can't tell you not to do it. I mean... if you are... then, you know, just be careful."

Jake's eyes widened a little and the blush was clear even through his fur. "Well I'm not so..." He trailed off, looking away and hoping that was the end of it.

"Okay." Chance was visibly relieved. "Just make sure you think it through before you do, okay? Because Becky's nice and all but I'm sure she's not someone you _really_ care about."

Jake ran his tongue along the metal ring on one of his molars and kept his gaze firmly on the coffee table. "Okay so... if you can't tell me not to then why are we even discussing it?" He just wanted to end this discussion, get his phone back, and tell Becky not to send any more incredibly hot pictures to his phone.

Chance took a deep breath and turned the television off. "Just hear me out, okay?"

"Aw come on, Chance." Jake pleaded. "Can we _not_ talk about this now?"

"No. We are and I promise I won't say another word about it if you just listen to what I have to say."

Jake rubbed his eyes with one of his paws but didn't look up. "Go ahead."

Chance stood up and walked across the room to lean against the wall while he talked. "Right now, I can guarantee there's three things on your mind. School, which I wish was the first thing but I know it's probably last. The Swat Kats, which probably takes second place by a long shot. And Becky. Well, not really Becky but how far you'll get with her. And, to be perfectly honest, when I was fifteen that was the only thing on my brain no matter what I was doing. Not, you know, Becky, but... I can't even remember her name. And you know girls, they remember everything. And one day some girl is gonna ask you if you remember and when you say you don't, she's gonna lose some respect for you."

"Speaking from experience?" It came off loaded down with sarcasm.

"Yeah. I am." Chance replied in a softer tone. "I can tell you that I was fifteen, and that it was in the backseat of my first car."

Jake cringed at the details.

"_But_," Chance shoved his paws into his pockets. "You ask me what color her hair was or short fur or long fur? I couldn't tell ya. And you know what that says?"

"That your long term memory sucks?" Jake couldn't help it. He needed to say something to distract from the seriousness.

"No." Chance's tone darkened. "It says that I didn't have enough respect for myself _and_ whatever her name was to make it mean something. And it shouldn't be like that."

"Wait a minute." There was a hint of nervous laughter in his voice. "See, you're here saying all this stuff, but, Chance, _seriously_ since I've know you, you've slept with _a lot_ of girls. And I know for a fact that it didn't mean anything."

Chance nodded his head. "First of all, it's not quite as many as you think. And second, you're right. There were a few that didn't mean anything. But you aren't like that. You aren't as boneheaded as I am. Which means that you should be capable of making better decisions than me. I mean, I kind of hold you at a higher standard than I hold myself, Jake."

"Okay." Jake felt a tight ball of guilt in the pit of his stomach. "I got it. Are we done?"

"Yeah." Chance sighed. "That's it. I'll get off my soapbox now and leave you alone."

"Thanks." Jake replied almost flippantly, taking his phone back.

"In the mean time, can ya tell her not to send stuff like that to your phone? If you get caught with those pictures at school..."

"Already planning on it." Jake stood up. "If it's all the same to you," he grabbed his crutches. "I'm going to bed."

* * *

**_awkward... lol. _**


	11. Chapter 11

**_My apologies for the long wait for this chapter. I've actually had it finished for a while. I just sort of let my Gamer-Geek side overthrow my FanFic Nerd for a little while, and I got caught up playing Black Ops with my friends. Oh... yeah and there was work. ... Oh work... *sigh* Anyway, I know I threw in kind of a plot twist at the end of this. But I really don't like Becky. I know. I created her. I should at least like my own characters, but I think she's repulsive. I modeled her after girls I hated in high school. Anyway... I will have chapter 12 soon. I promise.  
-Nyte Kat-_**

* * *

****Against his better judgment, Chance dropped Jake off at the mall so that he could take Becky to see a movie. He'd had half a mind to stick around and chaperone the two, but he didn't want Jake to think that he didn't trust him. He _did_ trust him, after all. It was just that, well, Jake was fifteen for crying out loud! And teenage boys tended to have a one track mind no matter how ahead of the curve they were. College graduate, former Enforcer, and injured vigilante aside, Jake was relatively an average teenage tom. Chance just couldn't understand why he was so nervous about it. A part of him was screaming to just let the boy have his space and do what boys do. And another part of him had become extremely parental and wanted to lock Jake in the hangar where he couldn't unleash the charm he didn't even know he had on any one of the potential innocence stealing tramps masquerading as a harmless high school she-kat. Chance found himself tightly gripping the steering wheel as he tried not to think of the possible outcomes of leaving two hormonal teens alone. He slowed down to allow time for the gate in front of the salvage yard to slide open. With no one making any attempts on Jake's life, they'd removed the keypad entry and settled with just locking it at night.

A familiar gray car was parked in front of the garage.

"What the hell is she doing here?" Chance grumbled, seeing Melissa get out. She said something and pointed at the ground, and then the passenger door opened and a very chastised looking teen got out. Chance sucked in a lungful of air and sent up a prayer for patience as he put the SUV in park and got out.

"Chance..." Melissa started towards him with a smile as if nothing had happened. As if she hadn't gone nearly a month without speaking to him.

Chance strode past her. "Gotta let the dog out," he said lowly as he found the key to the door on his keyring. Melissa started to follow him inside but thought better of it. Instead, she waited until Chance returned, Charlie running clumsily ahead of him.

"She's looking better." Melissa stated cheerily.

"What are you doing here?" Chance asked, folding his arms on his broad chest.

"Well I..." Melissa exhaled loudly. "I felt Blake ought to apologize to Jake for his behavior."

"Yeah well Jake ain't here." Chance shrugged.

"Well where is he?" Melissa tried to look around him as if Jake was actually really there, just hiding.

"He's got finals next week and then he's out for the holiday break. So I let him take Becky to the movies." Chance explained. "Not that it's any of your business."

Melissa's mouth snapped shut and she nervously adjusted the strap of her purse on her shoulder.

"Is there something else?" Chance asked impatiently.

"I..." Melissa looked down at her shoes. "I'm sorry."  
"For what?" Chance couldn't help be mildly amused but he didn't show it.

"For..." Melissa faltered. "For the way I behaved. And for condoning my son's abhorrent behavior. It was an awful thing he did, and I should have made him apologize right away."

"Yeah. Ya should have." Chance agreed. "Or maybe you could have asked me about it. I was there. I could have told you the whole story about Suri. Neither of you have a clue what kind of hell last year was like for that kit."

Melissa pursed her lips as if she was sucking on her teeth to keep from speaking.

"But you know what pisses me off more than your blatant disregard for what he was going through?" Chance's voice held just a hint of a growl, and he didn't wait for a response. "The fact that you think you can tell me how and when I should discipline Jake for something _you_ thought was wrong."

"I was just..." Melissa tried to explain.  
"I don't give a damn what you thought you were doing." Chance spat the words. "Jake might not be my son, but there isn't another kat in this world that knows what's good for him better than me."

"Chance!" Melissa pleaded. "I came all this way to apologize."

"You should've just called." Chance looked away. "I would'a saved ya the gas and the trouble. What did you think I was gonna do? Just let it go?"

"I'm sorry!" Melissa was on the verge of tears.

"Yeah." Chance snapped his fingers for Charlie to come on. "I got it. Look if you need somewhere to stay before you head back to Pawline, I know somewhere that's pretty cheap without being a roach motel."

Melissa looked crestfallen. "So there's no working this out?"

Chance looked at her over his shoulder. "Maybe I'll see you next time I'm out that way." He went inside, locking the door behind him, and waited until she left to let out the loud string of curses he'd been holding in, as well as an angry kick to a shelf full of old parts waiting to be properly disposed of. As the metal objects crashed to the ground, the tabby knew he needed to blow off some steam before he completely exploded.

* * *

Jake couldn't express how awful he felt when there was no sign of Chance after the movie. Normally, his guardian was early to everything... unless something crazy was happening. After thirty minutes of waiting, Becky's grandmother had called three times, wondering where the hell she was. Finally, she told her gran that something had come up. She needed a ride.

"I am so so sorry." Jake shook his head as he tried _again_ to reach Chance.

"It's not your fault." Becky reassured. "Just.. you know... call me."

"Yeah." Jake ended the call when he got Chance's voicemail.

"Are you sure you don't want a ride?" Becky asked before getting in the car.

Jake shook his head. "He'll be here." He'd call Rita. If something came up with the Swat Kats, she'd know. He waited until Becky's ride was out of sight before letting out a shaky breath. He took a few seconds to force the rising panic back down before searching through his contacts for Rita's number and was just about to press 'send' when he heard a loud horn honking. His head snapped up and the tight ball of fear loosened.

"Who was it this time?" Jake asked eagerly as he climbed in.

"Jake, I'm _so_ sorry." Chance immediately apologized.

Jake's green eyes narrowed. "... for what?"

"I took the chief out and I left my phone at home. I was just so mad that it completely slipped my mind that you were waiting on me." Chance explained, his face long with guilt.

Jake's mouth hung open in a silent 'oh'. Chance had never just forgotten about him. "You were mad?"

"Yeah I..." Chance hit the steering wheel with an open palm. "Look... I don't want to talk about it right now."

"Okay." Jake averted his gaze towards the window. Had he done something? No. He'd even been a perfect gentle-tom at the movies with Becky. It didn't hurt that he'd actually wanted to see the movie they went to... but that was besides the point. They'd only made out during the previews and until the usher came through sweeping his flashlight. No, Jake decided. He hadn't done anything. He shot a sidelong glance at Chance and his deep scowl and felt a different sort of knot forming in his gut.

* * *

"Jake!"

Jake winced at the loud angry growl that came from the kitchen. His headaches had practically been nonexistent until today. It probably had to do with having his nose stuck in his notes all day. Slowly he slid off his bed, grabbed one of his crutches and hesitantly left his room. Whatever had pissed Chance off yesterday apparently still had him mad today.

"Are you gonna wash these dishes or what?" Chance gestured at the sink with one of his large paws.

Jake swung his wary gaze from the tabby to the sink full of dishes he was asked to do last night and forgot about in his attempts to stay out of Chance's way. Instead of responding, he made his way to the sink and turned on the water.

Chance noted how the teen's ears were laid low and his tail hugged his wounded leg, and his shoulders sagged with guilt. It wasn't Jake's fault. Now frustrated with himself, Chance ushered Jake from the sink. "You know what? Just forget it. I'll do it. Go do whatever you were doing."

"But..." Jake slowly took a couple steps back. "Chance, did I do something?"

Chance bit the inside of his cheek. "No," he finally said.

Jake clenched his fists tightly and looked out of the kitchen, silently debating on venting his frustration or just following orders. His thoughts were broken by the loud blaring of the alarm and he closed his eyes against the painful reverberation in his skull.

"Son of a bitch!" Chance swore, loudly tossing a soap covered spoon into the sink and stomping out of the kitchen.

Jake hung back for a moment before slowly following to find out what was going on. "What is it?" He asked when Chance started to rush off without informing him.

"Some psychopath fucking with the weather." Chance growled. "As if it isn't cold enough, the crazy of the week is covering the city in ice."

Jake sighed loudly. "Stupid leg!" He thought. "Be careful!" He yelled after Chance, and then went to turn on the news so that he could follow the action as best he could.

* * *

"It could be days before everyone has power." Callie dragged a paw through her messy mane of blonde hair.

"It's gonna be below freezing at night." T-Bone frowned. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Unless you have a ton of power generators and about twenty thousand blankets," Callie shook her head. "Thanks for saving the day." She smiled in spite of the clean up effort. "When did you say Razor would be back?"

"January, I hope." T-Bone replied, then flinched. 'Jake,' he thought. "If there's anything you need, you know how to get in touch with me."

When the Swat Kat neared the salvage yard, his controls got a 'generators active' message and a warning light indicating that the landing area was acting at half power. "Shit," he cursed. That meant no power at home. It took several extra minutes to get inside than usual. The chill in the hangar was normal. They couldn't afford to waste electricity to heat that part of the compound. What wasn't normal, however, was how cold it was in the house when Chance finally got in. It was dark and eerily quiet. "Jake?" He called out as he carefully maneuvered through the dark and into the living room. As his eyes adjusted, Chance noticed a lump on the couch buried beneath a heavy blanket... the comforter from Jake's bed. "Hey kiddo," he purred, knees popping as he sat on the coffee table and pulled back the blanket. Charlie's head lifted but she didn't move out from under the arm wrapped around her and holding her close. "Hey girl. You keeping him warm?" Chance scratched her behind the ears and then reached to gently shake the sleeping teen. Jake made a snorting sound as he was startled out of his sleep.

"Everything okay?" Jake asked quietly.

"Aside from the blackout?" Chance asked. He noted that Jake was also wearing his coat. "How long has it been out here?"

"I dunno." Jake rubbed his eyes. "Right after I finished dishes. I think that was around four." He shifted so that he was sitting up, a move that made Charlie get off the couch.

"It's almost eight." Chance said. "I guess I should call Ma and see if she's got power. If she does, then we'll just go over there."

"What if she doesn't?" Jake asked.

Chance could see Jake shiver. "Then I'll see if I can reroute the generators for the hangar to the house."

* * *

Chance wrinkled his nose in disgust at the floral pattern on the sheets in his mother's guest room. It was tempting to sleep in his old room, but the bed was too small and better suited for Jake... and it was a little warmer for the kit. He jerked his head towards the door when it creaked open, and shook his head when he saw a black snout. "Hey girl," he said and sat down on the edge of the bed, bending over to scratch her on the chin. "You're in the wrong room." Chance thought about the stairs and wondered if Charlie was afraid to go up them. "Come on." He stood up and beckoned for the dog to follow him. She didn't seem to have any trouble going up the steps. "Maybe you just didn't know where to go, huh?" And then he saw that the door was shut. Chance tapped on it with his knuckles and then listened. When he didn't hear anything, he looked down to see if there was any light coming out from under the door. Was Jake really already asleep? It wasn't even ten yet. He opened the door and peered in. There was a small glow from the laptop screen that he hadn't seen under the door, and it was just enough to show Jake somewhat curled up with the blanket up to his chin and an extra pillow in his arms like a teddy bear. Chance thought about leaving, but then Charlie made a clumsy leap onto the bed that nobody could sleep through.

"What?" Jake asked after a moment of petting his dog.

"Nothing." Chance replied with a shrug.

"So you're just gonna stand there in the dark looking creepy?" Jake asked in a quiet voice. It sounded like it was meant to be sarcastic but couldn't meet the demand.

"You feeling okay?" Chance asked, reaching for the lamp.

Jake squinted when the room filled with the soft light. "Yeah. Why?"

"You were asleep earlier, and you're never in bed this early." Chance pointed out.

"I'm fine. I have exams. I figured I should try and go to bed early." Jake shifted under the blanket as Charlie wriggled onto her back so that he could scratch her belly.

"Oh. Yeah. That's right." Chance shoved his paws into his pockets but otherwise didn't move.

Jake shot him a covert look, wondering if he was done... if he was going to leave or what. "So..."

"You afraid of the dark or something?  
"What?" Jake was a little blindsided by the question.

"It just dawned on me that, except for earlier, you always sleep with your computer on." Chance nodded his head at the screen saver.

"That's kind of a random question, don't you think?" Jake narrowed his eyes at his guardian.

"I think it's a fair one."

Jake pondered it for a minute. "How come you've been such a bastard since yesterday?"

"Is this a trade off kind of thing?" Chance asked.

"Kind of." Jake pushed his pillows up against the wall and leaned against them. "You first."

Chance looked around for a second. "Mind if I sit?"  
Jake shifted to give him room. "Just don't break my other leg."

"Ha ha." Chance rolled his eyes as he sat down. "After I dropped you off and came home, Melissa was waiting. She had Blake and said she brought him to apologize."

"That's a good thing, right?"

"Oh yeah. You totally deserved an apology." Chance nodded. "A month ago when it happened." He sighed. "It just felt like she was apologizing because she thought it was what I wanted to hear, not because she really was sorry."

"You know what I think?" Jake asked, folding his arms behind his head and focusing on the barely visible ceiling.

"Huh?"

"I think you should hook back up with Callie."

Chance let out a small laugh. "An' why's that?"

"Because she's totally hot." Jake smirked. "And because she's not potentially psycho. Plus, if you ever got really serious, you know you could trust her because she hasn't handed over her little communicator to Commander Buzz Kill yet."

"Hmph." Chance picked up the laptop and set it on his knee. "Alright, so what's the deal?"

"I'm not afraid of the dark." Jake defended. "I just... like being able to see what's going on around me."

"Uh huh." Chance smirked. "So what you're saying is you don't like not being able to see things in the dark?"

"Kinda."

"Ergo... afraid of the dark."

"I'm not afraid of the dark."

"So if I take this you'd be able to sleep?"

"Yeah." Jake replied.  
"Okay." Chance stood up and started to take the computer with him.

"Wait."

Chance gave Jake an expectant look.

"I have exams tomorrow. And I'm not used to sleeping without some kind of light. If I can't get to sleep and I flunk my exams, it's your fault."

"Yeah I guess I can't have you waking up with nightmares every couple of hours." Chance sat it back down.

"Whatever, Chance. I'm not scared."

"Okay." Chance caught his eyes. "Holiday break starts Friday. You're not afraid of the dark... once you don't have school, I get the laptop."

"You just want to go snooping through all my files." Jake glared.

"I don't wanna know what kind of creepy teenage fetishes you have." Chance pulled his lips up in disgust. "I just wanna prove a point."

"Fine." Jake huffed. "But I'll need it back after Christmas to brush up on my summer reading."

"I think a week will do." Chance smirked. "Get some sleep."

* * *

"Break it up!"

Jake cringed and pulled back from the inappropriately timed kiss. "I'll see you at lunch," he said to Becky before flashing an innocent smile at the teacher who'd reprimanded the teens.

"Yeah. See ya." Becky winked before going the other way.

Jake tilted his head in a 'what's up' motion as he saw TL and Fritz talking, and then he continued in the direction of his own first period class.

"She's cheating on you."

The cinnamon furred teen arched an eyebrow at Miranda. "Uh huh."

"I'm telling you the truth." Miranda huffed.

"Well I guess it isn't lying if your delusions make you think you're telling the truth." Jake huffed.

"You can be such an ass. You know that?" Miranda frowned. "You'll wish you listened to me."

"She's not cheating on me." Jake rolled his eyes.

"Okay." Miranda said, shrugging. "You'll wish you listened to me later."

"Fine." Jake sighed. "Hey, you haven't heard anything about Jason, have you?"

Miranda shook her head. "I think I heard something about him being let out and then put on house arrest."

"You think his mom would let me talk to him if I called?"

"How would I know? Why don't you just call and find out?" Miranda shifted her backpack. "Look I can't stand here and talk to you all day. I have to go."

Jake watched her leave with a stunned look on his face. "But you were..." He let out a frustrated sigh.

It was the last day of first semester. Exams were finished. Today his teachers were showing the results, taking back their books, and torturing them with silly 'classic' holiday movies to pass the time. It. Was. Boring. It seemed like forever before the bell for lunch rang. While Jake stood in line, he looked around for Becky, frowning when he didn't see her. Disappointed, he carried his tray to the table where Fritz and TL were sitting. Their teachers had apparently let them choose which lunch they went to.

"Hey small-fry."

LaCroix was there too.

"What's up, tubby?" Jake asked with a smirk.

"No crutches today?" LaCroix asked, tossing back a chicken nugget.

"Nah. I can walk without them... sort of." Jake shrugged. "Hey, any of you know where Becky is?"

"She went home." TL piped in. "She's in my second period."

"She just left?" Jake frowned. Why wouldn't she tell him?

"Yeah." TL made a face. "She was complaining that her stomach hurt and then ralphed in Mrs. Clark's trashcan by her desk."

"Ew." Jake grimaced, pulling his phone from his pocket. He sent her a quick text asking if she was alright, silently hoping she didn't have a bug. Chance and Rita would be ticked if he got sick over the holidays.

"So who has what in January?" Fritz asked suddenly.

"Uh..." Jake looked up.

"Not you. We already know we're all too dumb to be in any of the same classes as you." TL joked. "I've got home-ec."

The three other teens looked at him with shock before dissolving into laughter. "You... you gonna bake us some cookies, kit?" LaCroix cracked.

"Like you need more cookies." Fritz joked.

"Laugh it up. But I'm gonna be the only tom in a room full of girls." TL grinned, leaning back and cracking his knuckles.

"Brilliant plan." Jake smirked. "You're probably the tenth tom I've heard say the same thing this week."

TL's face fell. "Aw. You think everyone else had the same idea?" He sighed. "I wonder if it's too late to switch it up. I could tell guidance that there was a mix-up or something."

"No." Fritz laughed. "I think you should stick with it. You know.. you could meet a nice boy."

"You shut your mouth Fritz!" TL growled.

"Relax." Fritz chuckled some more. "I'm just kidding. Sheesh."

Jake shook his head and finished his lunch. He'd missed hanging out with kats other than Becky. As he drank his milk, he wondered if she'd mind if he hung out with them one weekend instead of with her.

* * *

The last time Chance had taken Jake and Callie to the restaurant they were currently at, Jake's father died. The tabby had debated it for a while, and eventually asked Jake if he'd be okay eating there. Jake shrugged it off and said sure. Now, however, his gaze kept drifting from Callie to the teen, who was pushing his food around on his plate and absently staring at the television mounted over the bar. Callie excused herself, and Chance cleared his throat. Jake met his eyes. "What's up, kiddo?"

"I just..." Jake bit his lip and looked down. "You know... kind of hard to believe it's been over a year since... you know..."

"You alright?" Chance lowered his voice and ducked his head. "Because we can leave. We can go somewhere else."

"No." Jake shook his head. "It's fine, Chance. I just... I thought it wouldn't bother me." Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw Callie approaching and picked up his glass, choosing to hide behind it.

"So what are you guys doing for Christmas?" Callie asked, seemingly unaware of the tense moment that had just passed.

"I think we're going to see my Mom's family." Chance replied, cutting off a piece of his steak. "Hopefully no one will tell Melissa that we're in town."

Jake snorted and then filled his mouth with a piece of chicken to keep from laughing any more.

"What?" Chance glared at him.

"You think anyone in that town can really keep a secret?" Jake managed to swallow his food.

"Yeah well... if she has a problem with it, that's just too flippin bad." Chance took a swig of his beer. "So what are we doing after this?"

Jake looked up through his eyelashes and then swung his gaze from Callie to Chance. "Dessert?"

Chance's jaw fell. "You can't possibly still be hungry."

Jake shrugged. "Kind of."

"Alright." Chance sighed and leaned back. "What do you want?"

Jake made a face. "I dunno."  
Chance turned his head to look at Callie, offering both an apologetic and an amused look.

"I know a place." Callie perked up. "If you two don't mind a little walk. I know it's chilly but I love this part of town at night."

"You up for it, kiddo?" Chance asked.

Jake nodded his head. He'd brought his crutches with him.

"It isn't too far. Just a couple of blocks." Callie reassured as she stood up and put on her coat.

Downtown Megakat City was bustling on the cold night. With Christmas just a week away, many kats were hurrying to find the right gift or reveling in good times spent with friends. Callie walked between Chance and Jake, her arm looped through the tabby's as she talked about her own plans for the holiday. After crossing two crosswalks, she took a right and reached out to open a door. Jake looked up to read the sign. "Dolce e Cremoso" the sign said in flowy script. "Homemade gelato and fine quality coffee shop," it said in smaller lettering underneath.

"Gelato?" Jake wondered, eying the glass case as they entered. "Ice cream?"

"Better than ice cream." Callie grinned like a school girl. "Get the praline. You'll thank me."

"Buona sera, Callie." A tall she-kat with almond colored fur smiled brightly at the deputy mayor. She had brown hair with wisps of peek-a-boo purple just barely visible against her cheeks. "Your usual?"

"Of course." Callie returned the smile. "And whatever these two want."

"What's your usual?" Chance asked, torn between ordering a hot drink and something from the peaks of creamy goodness beckoning from within the case.

"Chocolate mint truffle tea." Callie replied with a guilty twinkle in her eyes.

"I think he might need rehab after this." Callie playfully whispered at Chance, and they both shared a quiet chuckle at how Jake seemed to be solely occupied by his waffle cone full of praline and tiramisu gelato. He even had his eyes closed.

"Thanks." Chance said with a smirk. "I think something finally stopped him from thinking about girls. In fact, I'm surprised he hasn't been sending text messages all night." He took a sip of the tea he'd ordered. It wasn't normally his thing, but Chance found it surprisingly good. His phone buzzed, rattling the change in his pocket. He gave the screen a puzzled look before excusing himself. This got Jake's attention and he looked up, following Chance with his gaze.

"What's that all about?" Jake asked, brow furrowed with concern.

"I don't know." Callie tilted her head. She could see him through the windows, and he looked agitated. "I hope nothing bad happened."

"The ground isn't shaking." Jake tried to joke. "That's usually a good sign around here, right?"

Callie took the bait and chuckled. "You have a point." It wasn't much longer before Chance came back inside, rubbing his paws together to warm them.

"Everything alright?" Callie asked.

"More or less." Chance sounded strained. "I think we need to cut this short."

"Oh." She frowned. "Well okay."

"I'll make it up to you." Chance forced a smile.

* * *

"We need to have a talk." Chance practically growled as soon as he and Jake were alone, in the warmth of their apartment above the garage.

Even Charlie sensed the rage practically vibrating off the one that usually fed her and let her out. She hid under the table, sitting on her tail.

"Okay." Jake bit the inside of his cheek and sat down while he tried to figure out why Chance was so angry.

"I'm gonna ask you this once, and the answer I get better be the truth." He was emptying out his pockets onto the table.

"Okay," Jake repeated, feeling both afraid and concerned by the strange behavior.

"Are you and Becky having sex?"

Jake's eyes widened and then rolled. "No Chance. We're not having sex. What's this about? Is Miranda saying crazy shit again?"

Chance dropped down into the other chair. "That was Lorraine that called while we were out."

Jake stared at him blankly.

"Becky's grandmother."

"Ah." Jake shook his head. "So what's going on?"

"She was screaming in my ear about how 'one of those boys' knocked up her grand-baby."

"Wh-what?" Jake nearly choked.

"I'm just repeating what she said." Chance wanted to believe Jake. He really did.

"Chance, I swear on my life." Jake's tail tapped against the rungs of the chair. "We haven't done anything like that."

Chance studied him for a long minute before letting out a slow breath. "Lorraine said the only boys she's seen with Becky have been you and 'that Fritzgerald' boy."

"Fritz?" Jake squeaked. "What was she doing with Fritz?" The fur on the back of his neck rose in agitation.

Chance felt the anger dissolve into sympathy. "Jake..."

Jake held up one of his paws. "Don't. One second ago you were ready to jump down my throat for something I didn't do. I just..." He clenched the extended paw into a tight fist, let out a frustrated snarl and got up. As he left the kitchen, he pulled out his own phone to send a text. "What the fuck?" He typed, and then put in Becky's number. Jake slammed his bedroom door shut and leaned against it. In his anger, a startlingly bone chilling thought broke through.

Miranda had been telling him the truth.


	12. Chapter 12

**_Again, sorry for the delay in chapters. I'm a busy girl it seems. Actually, I was kind of stuck. D= Hope you enjoy. I tried to leave a little of a cliffhanger. _**

**_Nyte Kat_**

* * *

Jake sighed as loudly as possible for the fourth time in less than ten minutes, desperately hoping his guardian would get the point. Chance looked at him across the rack of clothing with aggravation, his blue eyes daring the teen to make one more sound. "You know, you could make this a little easier on both of us if you would quit complaining about how bored you are and actually help me pick out _your _clothes."

Jake frowned. "You try trying on stuff with a huge cast on your leg. It sucks." His ears dipped low and his mouth melted into a pout. "Come on Chance. Can't we just come back to this after we get everyone's gifts and stuff?"

"No." Chance replied and held up a nice pair of black slacks. "How about these?"

"Why?" Jake scrunched up his nose. "They all look the same to me."

"Because if we don't get this over with then you'll find some way to make me forget about it, and then I'm going to get an earful because I didn't get you clothes like Ma asked." Chance sighed. "And they aren't all the same. Come on, Jake. You know if she was the one doing this, you wouldn't be making it so hard."

Jake smirked. "That's what you think. And neither one of you ever let me wear what I want to wear. Maybe if you'd let me have a little bit of say in it, then it _would_ be easier."

Chance shook his head. "She said 'nice clothes'." He pointed at him with the paw holding the pants. "You need something for the Christmas service and new clothes for school. If I let you pick it out, you're going to find something with Kannibal Kats on it. That's all I need is a phone call because I let you wear something profane."

"You're here with me." Jake pleaded. "If I don't say one more word about what you think I should wear to a boring church thing, then can I at least have a little more leeway in what I wear to school? I'm so sick of wearing boring t-shirts and polo shirts. I feel like I go to a prep school."

Chance exhaled loudly. "Alright. But we gotta pick it up a little. I still have to get Mom and Callie something and then I have to pick Callie up at six."

Jake frowned. "It's only noon."

"Yeah but we got here at eleven. And we've been in this store for an hour." Chance frowned. "Go try these on."

"You know I already have black pants, right?" Jake asked.

"Didn't we just make some kind of deal about you cooperating?" Chance glared.

"Right." Jake rolled his eyes, took the pants and hobbled to the dressing room. "Stupid crutches," he grumbled. He _had_ been walking around without them, but using his foot too much left it sore. The thought of trying to make it around the mall with them contributed to his irritability. Once inside the dressing room, Jake leaned his crutches against the wall undid his pants. He had to sit on the little bench to work them off over his cast. Then he had to work the dress slacks on.

"Do they fit?"

Jake's fur stood up at the sudden sound of Chance's voice. Was he standing right outside? Couldn't he wait? "Yeah," he replied.  
"Let me see."

"Are you serious?" Jake mumbled.

"What?" Chance asked.

"Give me a second." Jake huffed. Why the hell was he being so... smothering? It was annoying! He unlocked the door and stepped out, throwing his arms out as if to say 'well?'.

"Lift up your shirt." Chance instructed.

Jake rolled his eyes and did as he was told.

"Can you pull 'em up so your butt isn't hanging out?" Chance asked with a snort.

"My butt isn't hanging out." Jake replied.

"Yeah it is." Chance shook his head and reached to tug up the waist of the pants. "You need a belt. These are kind of big."

Jake looked up when he heard a giggle, spotting a girl from his school looking at him from a rack of clothing just within view of the changing rooms. "Cut it out." He swatted Chance's paws away. "Jeez. These are fine."

Chance noticed the insides of Jake's ears turning red and turned around. He spotted the girl just as she quickly looked away. "You know her?"

"She goes to my school." Jake went back into the dressing room. "Thanks for, you know, acting like a she-kat when she was checking me out."

"You think she's cute?" Chance asked, grinning at the closed door.  
"I don't even know her name, Chance." Jake sighed. "And I don't really care to know it either."

Chance frowned. "They aren't all gonna be like Becky."

"You mean lying, deceiving little whores?" Jake asked.

Chance winced. "Yeah."

Jake opened the door and held out the pants so he could get his crutches. "You ready?"

"Still gotta get a shirt and tie." Chance said. "Those weren't as long as I thought they'd be. I think you might have grown an inch or two."

Jake scowled. "I don't appreciate your sarcasm."

"I'm serious." Chance replied.

"Yeah, okay." Jake rolled his eyes.

It took another hour, but Chance managed to get something together for church and get some pretty cool clothes for the teen. Rita would be pleased with what she considered part of her Christmas gift to him.

"You think you can hold one of these with your crutches?" Chance asked. "Or do you wanna make a trip to the car?"

Jake bit his lip and nodded his head. "Yeah I can take one."

"Awesome. Where to now?" Chance asked, picking up the rest of the bags after putting his wallet back into his pocket.

"Uh..." Jake looked a little apprehensive. "You think I could kind of, you know, do my own thing while you get Callie something?"

"I'm not going to get her anything dirty." Chance frowned.

"If you are or you aren't, I don't wanna know." Jake cringed. "But I gotta get some stuff too."

Chance looked thoughtful. "Your phone is turned on?"

"Yeah."

"Alright. But don't take too long. And if I call you, you better answer." He said sternly.

"When don't I answer your calls?" Jake looked offended.

"Just making sure." Chance said. "I'll see you in a little while."

"Yep." Jake replied, going the opposite direction of the tabby. He already knew what he was going to buy.

Chance already had his own ideas as well.

* * *

It was starting to rain when Chance picked Callie up at her apartment. He held the umbrella over her head as he walked her to the car.

"It's so cold," she trembled. "I'm surprised it isn't snowing."

"I'm glad it isn't snowing." Chance chuckled. "We gotta leave in the morning. Remember?"

"That's right." Callie smiled. "But if it snows and the roads get too icy, you could always spend the holiday with me."

"Now that's tempting." Chance looked thoughtful.

As he drove into the city, the rain fell harder. "What is up with this weather?" He complained, turning the windshield wipers up as fast as they would go. His gut twisted with worry. Dark and stormy usually only meant one creature. As the thought crossed his mind, lightning lit up the sky and Callie let out a startled gasp.

"Chance! Look out!"

Chance's eyes widened and he jerked the wheel, narrowly missing being hit by a large prehistoric creature as well as an oncoming car. "What the hell was that?" He pulled into a parking lot.

"Look!" Callie gasped, pointing out the window. "Up there!"

Chance peered through the glass and was just able to make out the little red troll on top of a skyscraper, pointing his watch upward at the swirling cloud. "Crud." What the hell was he supposed to do now? "What do ya say we get out of here?"

"It's me he's usually after." Callie frowned. "He'll only unleash more of these things until he either gets me or turns this city into an ancient kingdom."

Chance frowned. "Well we gotta do something."

"Get me to City Hall." Callie said. "I know who to call."  
Chance gave her a startled look. If she hit the button on that pager with him around, he was busted. "What to do? What to do?" He thought as he drove to City Hall.

"Callie," he said as she opened the door. "Jake... he's... he's with a friend here in the city. I gotta..."

Callie nodded her head, expression full of understanding. "I'll be fine, Chance. You get to him. I'd feel awful if something happened and he couldn't get a hold of you."

Chance nodded his head. "Be careful, Callie."

"You too, Chance." She touched his paw before hurrying out of the car and running through the rain to get to the building. Almost as soon as she was out of sight, the pager in Chance's pocket went off. He cleared his throat. "Yes Miss Briggs?" He asked in his deepest tone.

"T-Bone! The Pastmaster is back!" She said in a voice that sent tingles up the tabby's spine.

"I'm on my way." He replied with a deeper tone.

* * *

Jake turned the dryer on and started to head back into his bedroom to finish cleaning it up. He'd promised Chance it would be spotless before they left for Pawline Springs in the morning. Rain pelted hard against his window and he shivered. Something just felt wrong about the sudden storm. Charlie whined lowly and dropped her chin to the worn carpet. Jake picked up his phone and dialed his guardian's number. After several rings, it went to voicemail. He tossed it from one paw to another. Did he call Callie? What if Chance had to ditch her to come home? Jake felt his gut tighten and he left his room to go turn on the television. Surely if something had happened, Ann Gora wouldn't miss an opportunity to report it. Almost as soon as his thumb hit the power button, Jake's fur stood straight up as the alarms started blaring. Then, as abruptly as they began, they stopped. That usually meant that Chance was already on it. With a loud, frustrated groan, Jake dropped onto the couch. Charlie nudged his paw with her nose.

"I'm so sick of this!" Jake said loudly, throwing himself back with an equally loud "ugh!" On the set, there was shaky footage of The Pastmaster pointing his watch at the sky. He imagined Johnny, Ann Gora's camera-kat, trying to get closer, a task made difficult by the clearly strong winds and heavy rain. "Chance can't fly in that. It's too dangerous." Jake told the dog.

Moments later, Charlie started to bark and made a run for the door. Jake heard a door slam and was up as well.

"Chance!" He said as he slid down the banister.

"What?" Chance growled as he hurried into the hangar.

"You're not seriously going to take the Turbokat out in that, are you?" Jake followed quickly behind him, stopping when Chance did to change into his flight gear.

"Nah. I was thinking I'd just walk." Chance glared at the teen as he made haste.

"That's not funny." Jake glowered. "Take me with you."

Chance snorted as he tied on his mask, shooting a look down at Jake's exposed toes peeking out from the foot of his cast. "Ain't happenin' kiddo. Or didja forget that your leg is broken."

"Then take the truck." Jake pleaded.

Chance shook his head. "And suppose that little troll takes to the skies on one of his stupid little dragons? Sorry buddy." He shot Jake a look as he ran over to the glistening jet. "I don't know what you're freaking out about, but I've got this under control."

Jake clenched his fists at his side. His stomach was doing flips. "Just..." His ears flattened against hist head. "Be careful. Okay?"

"I'll be fine." Chance shouted as he fastened himself in. "Stay inside!" He ordered before closing the canopy.

Jake frowned. "Why the hell would I wanna go outside?" The question was lost in the roar of the Turbokat's engines. A shudder worked through his lithe body as he sat down on the concrete steps. Charlie licked his face. Jake pulled a portion of his cheek between his teeth and bit down firmly. Even in the subterranean hangar, he could hear the heavy downpour of rain. Jake turned so that he could put his back to the wall and lay the broken leg across the step he was sitting on. The cold residing in the bricks seeped into his shirt and then his spine. His tail had just started to go numb when Charlie suddenly tensed and started growling.

"Now what?" Jake mumbled, easing himself up. Charlie lowered her head, growling a little bit louder. Jake frowned. He'd never heard her sound so defensive. After moving quietly back up the steps, Jake slowly pushed open the hidden door separating the hangar from the small office. The light illuminating the stairs leading to the apartment above was on, giving enough light to expose two figures moving around inside the shop. Before Jake could stop her, Charlie darted out into the garage, barking menacingly.

"Whoa!" Someone shouted and bumped into something that sounded like car parts. "Get this mutt off me!"

Jake furrowed his brow. That voice sounded familiar. Easing forward, he slid the hidden door shut and looked for something to defend himself with. There was a pry bar propped against the filing cabinet. Jake clasped a paw around it and crept towards the door.

Outside of the office, one of the intruders growled and kicked Charlie. She yelped as she was launched into a tool chest on wheels.

"Stop!" Jake shouted with anger as he left the cover of the partially open door.

"Well well well." The one he'd heard speak before grinned darkly. "Look who we have here."

Jake felt his heart sink. "Trevor," he growled. That meant the other one was Andrew.

"This makes things a lot easier." Trevor limped forward. Blood was seeping through holes in his jeans... an injury caused by Charlie.

Jake shot her a look. She'd recovered and was growling menacingly from the darker portion of the garage.

"I suggest you put that dog of yours up." Trevor revealed a large knife tucked into his belt. "Unless you want me to take care of it."

"What's the matter, Trevor?" Jake baited. "Can't afford a gun?"

"You're a lightweight." Trevor smirked. "Put your dog up and then show me where the cash is."

Jake let out a quiet breath. "Come on girl," he whistled and started towards the stairs.

Trevor let out a loud laugh. "Hold up, kitten." He chuckled. "What's up with the leg?"

"It's broken." Jake huffed, going up the stairs and putting Charlie in the house. Knowing he didn't have his keys, he locked the door. He could pick the lock if he needed to. With any luck, Chance would get there first. "I don't have any money for you."

"Bullshit." Trevor snorted. "Where's the safe? In that little office you were hiding in?"

"We don't have one. The money goes to the bank at the end of the day. It's there. You want it? You can try and rob the bank." Jake stopped at the foot of the stairs, the pry bar still in one of his paws. He'd held it close to his leg the whole time, blending it in with his limp.

"He's lying." The rare spoken word from Andrew made both of them turn their heads to look at him. "Nobody does that."

"I'm not lying." Jake replied through clenched teeth. He wasn't going to mention that they wouldn't be there for a week. "The money isn't here."

"Prove it." Trevor pulled the knife free and pointed it at him.

"The safe's through there." Jake nodded at the office. "Go ahead."

"Show Andrew where it is." Trevor pointed.

Andrew moved closer into the light, revealing that he held his own weapon... a heavy lead pipe. "You wanna put that down?" He growled at Jake.

Jake nodded his head and held it out, making a show of looking like he was going to drop it. Then he launched it full force at Trevor, nailing him in the midsection. Trevor doubled over, dropping to the floor.

"Idiot." Andrew huffed, swinging at Jake.

Jake ducked and grabbed a hold of the larger kat's arm. They struggled for a moment before he saw Trevor moving out of his peripheral vision, knife raised and ready to strike. Jake had no other option than to let go and defend himself. Balancing on his left leg, he drove his right knee into Trevor's already sore middle, hoping the weight of the cast added to the force of the blow. Again Trevor went down, dropping his knife. Jake kicked it across the floor. Trevor scrambled after it and Jake brought his focus back on Andrew.

Taking a different approach, Andrew swung the pipe lower. It connected with Jake's already broken leg with a load thunk that was nearly drowned out with the howl of pain it caused. Jake dropped like a stone and immediately curled up to cradle his leg. Andrew smiled broadly and took advantage of his opponents prone position to strike another blow.

Jake couldn't bite back the sob of pain that exploded from his throat as he tried to shield his leg by rolling onto his side.

"Aww, is da wittle kitty cwying?" Trevor taunted, dropping to his knees and pressing the tip of his knife into Jake's chin. Jake brought his paws up to try and push him away. Trevor grabbed one of the paws, pushed it and the arm it was connected to down to the floor, and then drove the blade through the palm. Jake let out another cry. "Where's the safe, Furlong?"

"In the office!" Jake choked out. "But it's empty, I swear!"

"What's the combination?" Trevor asked.

"There isn't one." Jake replied through clenched teeth.

Andrew swung at his leg again.

"Gah!" Jake cried out and tried to jerk away. "It's not a combination safe you jerk!"

Trevor looked at Andrew, who just shrugged. "I thought he was lying."  
Trevor shrugged as well. "Then where's the key?"

"With Chance." Jake lied. They were inside the apartment... which was locked. "He's gone. On a date. His keys are with him."

"Guess we'll just have to break it open." Trevor stood up and went for the pry bar Jake had thrown at him. "Where's the safe?"

"Un... under the desk." Jake whimpered.

Trevor handed the pry bar to Andrew and took the pipe. "You get the money. I've been waiting a long time to pay back this little twerp for all the trouble he caused us."

Andrew swung the bar in one paw as he went into the office and turned on the lamp. Outside, he could hear a mix of 'thunks' and 'thuds' along with the pained whimpers of their target. It brought a smile to his face. There were few kats he hated more than Jake Furlong.

The safe was under the desk, just as Jake had said. The lock, which required a key to open, hung from it. Andrew smiled and brought the bar down on the mechanism, instantly breaking it loose. "Piece of cake." He tossed the broken lock away and pulled open the door. The smile faded. Inside were some files and invoices, but no cash. Not even rolls of change. "Son of a bitch. The little brat was telling the truth." He kicked the door shut and stormed out of the office.

"You got the money?" Trevor stopped his assault.

Andrew shook his head. "Safe's empty. There's no money here."

"Damn it!" Trevor kicked Jake one last time. "We already wasted too much time. Let's get out of here. You got lucky, punk!"

Jake stayed on the floor until he was alone again. The only sounds he could hear were the rain and Charlie whining and barking, trying to get back downstairs. Jake let out a shaky breath and struggled to pull himself up. With his left paw slick with blood and his right leg throbbing like it had been run over, the bruises Trevor had left everywhere else were just a dull roar. "I could've had them," Jake moaned, using whatever he could find to lean on as he made his way back inside the office. "If it wasn't for this stupid leg. I should have just hit Andrew first." He calculated the mistakes he made as he dropped into the squeaky desk chair. Swiveling, he spotted an unopened package of shop towels and rolled the chair over to the shelf. Using his teeth and the uninjured paw, Jake ripped the package open and wrapped several towels around the bleeding wound. What did he do now? Call the cops and say he locked himself out and then these thugs broke in and tried to rob the place? What if Chance came home? They would certainly hear the Turbokat. "What do I do?" Jake moaned. The adrenaline was fading away and his head was spinning from the pain. He couldn't think. "Shouldn't have locked the door," he said. Jake leaned forward and rested his head on the cool desk surface. Taking deep breaths, he tried willing the intense pain to subside.

* * *

T-Bone jumped out of the cockpit of the Turbokat. He needed to call Callie. As he changed out of his soaked flight suit, he grabbed a towel to dry his fur and headed up the stairs. The light on in the office surprised him, but not nearly as much as seeing Jake hunched over at the desk. "What are you doing down here?"

Jake lifted his head and swiveled the chair around. "Waiting for you." His voice was gravely.

"What the hell happened to you?" Chance would have had to be blind not to notice the disheveled clothes and puffy red eyes. More importantly, however, he noticed the blood on Jake's shirt and the towels wrapped around his paws.

"Someone broke in the shop while I was in the hangar." Jake replied. "I didn't want to call the cops because I didn't know when you were going to be back."

"Jesus." Chance hissed, dragging a paw through his hair before going to inspect the wound. "You get a good look at 'em?"

"I'll say." Jake choked out, hissing as the towels tugged at the fur and flesh where some of the blood had dried.

"Sorry," Chance replied. "Anyone we know?"

Jake nodded his head. "Remember those guys I was having trouble with last year? Andrew and Trevor?"

Chance let out a long sigh. "Yeah. Those thugs? What? Did they want to just throw you around a little?"

Jake shook his head. "I don't think they knew where I lived. They were looking for money. I tried telling them there wasn't any. Guess they didn't believe me." The last part was said with a little laugh.

Chance paused in his inspection of the cut to glare at Jake. "This isn't funny."

"I know." Jake cleared his throat.

"They get you anywhere else?" Chance asked.

Jake nodded. "Yeah." He explained how both kats had taken turns beating his already injured leg.

"We need to report this." Chance looked out the office door to where the front door had been bashed in. He looked back at Jake, whose paw was still bleeding. Hospital was more important.

"Where's your coat?"

"Inside." Jake said. "But the door's locked. I didn't want them getting in the house. And they made me put Charlie up so she wouldn't attack them anymore. Chance..."

Chance was halfway out the door. "Yeah?"

"You're gonna call the cops, right?"

Chance lowered his gaze from Jake's face to look at his paw. "It can wait until we get back from the hospital."

* * *

Jake let out a long quiet breath, puffing up his cheeks as he did so. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

"You alright back there?" Chance asked from the driver's seat.

"I'm good." Jake mumbled his response. He was exhausted and hurting. Fortunately, the x-ray showed that the break in his leg had healed. And the cast acted as somewhat of a shock absorber, leaving him with deep bruises and two small hairline fractures that didn't warrant a cast. That was removed and replaced with a black shin splint along with orders to stay completely off that leg. Ice and elevation. Etc. Jake shot a look towards the front seat. Charlie was allowed to ride shotgun. "So why isn't Rita riding with us again?"

"She had some stuff to do." That was all Chance would offer. He was being painfully cryptic. "Just try and get some sleep, Jake. You had a long night."

Jake snorted. "No kidding." He was tired. But every time he started to drift off, the car would hit a bump or Chance would have to slam on the brakes. They lapsed into a comfortable silence. At some point, the traffic started to thin out. Jake fought the pull of his eyelids because he knew there was only another hour and a half before Pawline Springs. It was a futile battle.

* * *

"Jake?"

"Hnh." Jake moaned in his sleep. "Jus' wake me when we get there, Chance."

Chance chuckled. "We're there. Come on kiddo. You can go right back to sleep."  
"Uh huh." Jake still hadn't opened his eyes. In fact, Chance was pretty sure the boy wasn't even partially awake.

"Come here, Charlie." Chance beckoned quietly, patting the seat. "Why don't you give him a better wake up."

Charlie wagged her tail excitedly as she jumped back in the car and started licking Jake's face.

"Wha... gah! Stop!" Jake pulled away, wiping his cheek with his sleeve. "Ew."

Chance cleared his throat as his laughter faded away. "Rise and shine."

"Yeah. I got it." Jake grumbled and eased himself out of the backseat out into the bright and sunny, yet bone chillingly cold day. Chance handed him the crutches that he still wasn't freed from.

"Everything's already inside. You gonna crash on the couch or go upstairs?" Chance asked.

Jake didn't answer until he was on the porch. "Upstairs." He really wanted to sleep in a bed. After the trip to the ER, and then the equally painful task of filing a police report, Jake hadn't made it past their own couch.

It hurt so much going up the long flight of stairs! Jake was gritting his teeth hard, and he feared the pressure was going to pop his braces loose. The door to the room he'd claimed as his own was already open, with his suitcase and other items already inside. The heat hadn't had time to fully warm the place up, though. Jake sighed and sat carefully on the old wooden chest at the foot of the bed while he opened his luggage to find his sweats. Just as he was pulling a pair of baggy flannel pajama pants from the suitcase, Chance rapped his fist against the door frame.

"Need any help?"

"Nah." Jake set the pants aside and began working off his sneakers. "I got it."

"I grabbed a couple extra pillows for you to prop it up with. And a cold pack." Chance held up the items.

"Gee thanks." Jake mumbled.

"I gotta run to the store." Chance said. "You gonna be okay by yourself?"

"I'm fine, Chance. Nothing ever happens out here." Jake eased off his jeans and then pulled on the pajama pants. He thought about putting on a different shirt, but the soft cotton long sleeved one he was wearing was already warm.

Chance pulled back the blankets and sheets. Jake thought about teasing him for tucking him in as he slid into bed. The thought vanished though as pain rippled through his leg. He hissed between his teeth and made an 'ah' sound as Chance placed the pillows under his leg.

"Sorry," Chance apologized as he shook the cold pack to activate it. "You have your phone?" He placed the cold pack on top of the injured portion of Jake's leg and then pulled the covers over him.

"Think it's in my pocket." Jake yawned. "On the floor."

Chance grunted as he found the pants and checked the pockets. Holding up the phone, he asked, "sound is on?"

"Yep." Jake stretched his arms and winced before doing a short of shimmy to get comfortable.

Chance sat the cell on the night stand. "If you need anything..."  
"Got it..." Jake's eyes were closed and he was almost asleep.

Chance sighed and scratched the top of Jake's head. "I'll be back in a little while."

This time Jake didn't respond. Chance couldn't help but smile a little. He patted Charlie on the head on his way out. "He's all yours, girl."

* * *

"Miriam was a feisty kit. It doesn't surprise me at all that she left tha night she was murdered."

Jake squinted into the dark. Had he heard someone talking about his mother? Or was that a dream? With a wince, he pushed himself into a sitting position and listened. The sounds traveling from downstairs were a little muddled, like objects being moved around.

"I can't believe how much he favors her."

Jake frowned. That was a voice he'd never heard before... in an accent that definitely wasn't local. Now wide awake, he stretched to turn on the lamp and find his crutches. "Ow," he hissed as he inadvertently clasped one of the crutches with the portion of his paw that had been stabbed.

"You know, that tom always seemed t'have a streak o'the devil in him. Me Olwen, she would always say to our Miriam how heavy handed he seemed t'be with Jacob."

Jake paused on the stairs. He could just make out the gray furred head of a stranger sitting on the couch. He seemed to be looking down. And Rita was sitting beside him.

"Hard t' believe. It's just hard t 'believe."

Jake cleared his throat loudly before slowly descending the rest of the stairs.

"Jake!" Rita gasped in surprise. "I was wondering if you'd ever wake up."

Jake looked from her to where Chance was untangling strings of lights in front of a bare tree. "Yeah," he drawled out. "What... uh... what's going on?"

Rita smiled broadly. "Well I'm sure Chance mentioned I had something I had to do, that I would be here later. Why don't you come on in here, sugar?"

Jake shot another look at Chance, hoping to convey a message. One that said "I really would have appreciated some warning on what this _surprise_ was going to be."

"Feel better?" Chance asked, standing up and looking a little sheepish.

"Sure." Jake swallowed the tight lump forming in his throat as he slowly turned to look at the stranger.

The old tom kat stood up and turned to look at the teenager lingering at the base of the stairs. "Jacob..." He nearly whispered.

"Well don't be rude, Jake." Rita huffed. "Your grandfather flew all the way from Ireland to see you."

* * *

**_Interesting twist, no? Chapter 13 is in the works._**


	13. Chapter 13

_**So... you might have noticed that it has been quite some time since my last update. Well, last summer was a pretty busy time for me. I started writing a freelance article about local music. Then, at the end of August... =D my husband and I discovered that we would be adding a baby to our tiny family. I tried to work on this during my pregnancy, but I don't have a laptop, and sitting at the computer was just too uncomfortable. Add in the sudden lack of energy coupled with the intense morning sickness, all I did was work and sleep. Now, however, my precious baby girl is here, and I'm starting to feel like my old self again. Thank you all for your patience... and some of you for your impatience. Now that I'm getting the hang of this parenting thing, I've had time to sit down and re-read what I've written so I can pick back up where I left off. I hope you enjoy this and what has to come in the future.**_

_**Nyte Kat**_

"So... ah..." Jake was at a complete loss. Here he was, standing in front of a kat he knew nothing about. And what did Rita expect? An emotional reunion like what happens on television? It would be different if it was his father jumping out of a closet or something shouting "just kidding!" Jake felt a lump form in his throat at the sudden thought of his father.

"Hey you wanna work on this for a few minutes?" Chance interrupted the awkward meeting to hold up the mass of Christmas lights.

"Okay." Jake proceeded forward with caution, as if there might be a trip wire between the furniture. He sat in the chair Chance had previously occupied and took the tangled lump of wires and bulbs. "So..." Jake tried again, taking a deep breath. "I thought that you... um... you know, weren't planning on ever making this kind of trip. At least that's what I got from the letter you sent."

"Aye." William O'Clawdale nodded his head. "But Ms Rita took the liberty of contacting me. I hope you don't mind."

"No." Jake bit his lip. "Not really. I'm just.. you know... not a real big fan of surprises." He focused on untangling the green strands in his lap as the room drifted into awkward silence.

"I brought a few things wi' me. Your da... an' I do apologize if I speak ill o' him, he packaged up her belongings and sent them with yer Mam an' I to take back with us." William said. "Ms Rita was tellin me how well you play the piano."

Jake looked at Rita, his green eyes sparking with a hint of anger. He schooled it quickly and regarded his grandfather. "She's a little biased. I'm okay."

"Miriam would have been happy about that." William leaned forward and tapped a box on the coffee table. "There were some things I kept for me-self. I tried to convince James to keep it for you, but he was damn near crazy over the whole bleedin' mess."

Jake eyed the box and sighed. He really didn't want any more surprises. Unconsciously, he touched his chest, feeling the thick silver chain. Before he could answer, his grandfather was handing him the box. Jake felt his stomach drop. He didn't want to open it.

"Well go on now." William urged. "It ain't gonna open itself."

Jake sucked in a deep breath and pulled the lid off the box. Inside was an old brown envelope that was held closed with string and appeared to be about twenty years old. Jake scratched the back of his neck before removing it from the box. Feeling everyone's eyes on him, he shot a quick glare at Chance and then Rita, who immediately stood up.

"You want something to drink, sugar?" Rita asked and didn't wait for an answer. "I made some tea while you were sleeping. It should be cold by now."

"I'll never understand how you Yankees drink ya tea over ice." William said with a chuckle.

Chance stood up. "I think I got this untangled and ready to go up." He stretched and groaned when something popped.

Jake exhaled softly and untied the string. He didn't know what to expect but was thrown by the sheets of aged paper that slid out.

"We were vacationing in th' states when Miriam met James. An I thought that lad was a bad bastard when I met him." William shook his head. "Ever since then, tha's all we heard of. He sent her letters. An' like any other silly little girl with a fancy for a boy, she hung on to them. Tha's all in there."

Jake flipped through the pages until he saw something other than his father's slightly slanted but otherwise perfectly uniform handwriting. "And this?"

William smiled. "The last time I had th' pleasure o' hearing Miriam play the piano was before you were born. James di'int want ta see it. He di'int want ta hear it. I'm amazed he kept th' piano. I thought fer sure he was goin' ta set it on fire."

Jake couldn't help the snorting sound he made in the back of his throat. His father didn't want to be reminded of his mother.

"There's all her music. He put it in with her things he wanted us to take. And then he said 'as soon as the funeral is over, you need to leave.' We never got so much as an explanation." William's tone darkened.

There were some photos as well, hard copies of what had been on the disk. But Jake was most interested in the music. Some of it he was sure he could play, and other pieces looked so difficult... "How did you find out?"

William sighed loudly. "Olwen. Yer Mam. When she got her teeth inta somethin' she di'int let go fer nothin. She paid some private investigator t' watch James... find out what was goin' on." He narrowed his eyes knowingly at Jake. "Heard a lot a things we di'int like, tha's fer certain."

Jake looked up to see Rita lingering in the threshold between the kitchen and the living room holding a glass of iced tea and cleared his throat. It spurned her back into action.

"Oh here you go baby." Rita sat the glass down on the table in front of him. "Why don't you put that away for now? You and Chance can get this tree decorated. And dinner is about ready." She smiled at William. "I hope you like chicken-fried steak. I didn't want to outdo Christmas dinner with something too grand."

"It sounds wonderful." William replied politely. He looked back at his grandson. "We can talk more about that other stuff later."

Jake nodded his head and put the envelope and it's papers back in the box. Rita went back into the kitchen and William got up to follow her.

"Can I give ya a paw?" He asked before their voices became too muffled to hear clearly.

"Thanks for the heads up." Jake hissed at Chance.

"Hey." Chance held up his paws in defense. "She told me to keep my mouth shut about it. I learned long ago, if Ma tells me to do something, I better do it."

"You at least could have given me a hint." Jake scowled.

"He's kind of neat, actually." Chance shrugged. "Help me put these on."

Jake pushed himself up, wincing a little at the soreness in his leg. "You just think the accent is cool." He started helping the tabby string the lights up on the tree.

"Well there is that." Chance chuckled. "You read it in his letter, Jake. He's old. Family is important. Maybe it would have been better if we'd discussed it with you first, but I think this is good for you."

Jake looked a little hurt. "What about you and Rita? You guys are more family than my dad ever was."

"Hey." Chance poked him in the chest. "Don't twist my words, kiddo. I love you, but he's your own flesh and blood. You wanna know something about your family history, I can't answer that for ya. But he can. And all I know about your mom is what you told me. But that old tom? That's her dad."

"I can't think of a single reason knowing my family history would benefit me." Jake rolled his eyes.

"Not right now you can't. But I bet there will come a time when you'll have questions." Chance focused back on the tree. His eyes flitted to the window for a second and then widened. "Holy kats! Jake look outside!"  
Jake dropped the strand of lights and pulled the curtains back. Outside, snow was coming down in white sheets. "Crud, you can't even see the car in that!"

"Good thing I already went to the store." Chance shook his head. "I have a feeling we're going to be up early shoveling the driveway so we can go to church."  
"Or we could not go to church." Jake offered with a smirk.

"Jake, we could get hit with a blizzard in a hurricane while there's an earthquake happening, and Ma would still make us go to church on Christmas Eve." Chance frowned.

* * *

The long nap Jake had after arriving at Grammy Furlong's old house had been a good idea at the time, but as he looked at the time on his phone in the dark, he regretted not being tired. "Two thirty," he mumbled and sat up. Charlie was asleep at his feet instead of near his head like usual. And when he moved to get out of bed, her head popped up and she ran for the door. "Of course you want to go out," Jake mumbled. The dog darted ahead of him as he went down the stairs. He paused and stared in shock at the couch where his grandfather was sleeping on the fold out. His snoring was atrocious and could put even Chance to shame. "Jeez," Jake hissed as he went into the kitchen. Doubtful that anything less than a nuclear bomb could wake the old tom up, Jake didn't hesitate to put a mug of milk in the microwave to warm it before going out the back door. He shuddered as his bare feet met the soft powdery snow. Charlie darted headlong into the yard and nearly disappeared in a particularly deep drift. Jake leaned against the door frame while he sipped on the warm milk and watched his pup chomp mouthfuls of snow. Despite the calming effects of the drink, he still trembled every so often as the icy night air enveloped him. Every shiver sent tendrils of pain to each bruise and abrasion Andrew and Trevor had so lovingly left him with.

Jake let out a light chuckle. Charlie clearly loved the snow. He left her to play while he limped back inside to slip on some shoes and grab something to clean off the porch swing with. When he returned to the porch with his coat on and a broom, Charlie was waiting, wagging her tail excitedly. Jake shook his head and swept the snow off the porch swing before easing himself down into it.

There were many things weighing heavy on Jake's mind that night. Becky... and her little tryst with Fritz, for one. What was he going to do when kats started thinking _he_ was the one who got her into her situation? Surely "it wasn't me" wouldn't suffice as an explanation. And what about Fritz? Did he remain friends with him? How would it change football next year? Maybe he should just not re-tryout. He let out a loud huff when he heard the snoring crescendo inside. "And then there's that..." Jake whispered. He covered his face his his paws and breathed a hefty sigh into them. Was he really supposed to be excited to see someone he didn't even know existed until just a few months ago? Jake stared out at the glistening white yard and then up at the cloudy night sky that continued to dump flakes upon flakes down towards earth. He balled up his paw into a fist around the stab wound, bringing the quick sting of tears to his eyes. "What am I supposed to do?"

* * *

"Jake wants his eggs scrambled, right?" Rita asked over her shoulder.

Chance looked up from yesterday's paper. "Usually." His brow furrowed when he realized that he hadn't seen the teen all morning. "I'll go ask him." As he left the kitchen, he stole a glance out the window. William was standing on the porch, smoking a cigarette and looking as if the cold didn't bother him one bit. Chance shook his head and went up the stairs.

"Jake?" He lightly tapped on the door before opening it. "You plan on getting out of bed any time today?"

"Why?" Jake mumbled into his pillow.

"You aren't still sore over Ma springing your grandfather on you, are ya?" Chance huffed out as he leaned against the door frame.

"If I am?" Jake remained on his stomach with his face still buried.

"You're gonna need to get over it. Mom went out of her way for you on this. You wanna be pissed off about it, then you can wait until we go back home and she isn't around. Until then you're going to get out of bed, get dressed and pretend to be grateful," Chance hissed.

"Just tell her I'm sick or something," Jake groaned.

Chance bit back the urge to yell at the teen. "You've got five minutes," he finally said. "If you aren't dressed and downstairs by then, I'm going to break your other leg."

"No you won't," Jake replied.

"You're right. I won't." Chance folded his arms over his chest. "But I'll be damned if you get to do anything or go anywhere when we get home."

"Seriously?" Jake turned his head to glare at the tabby. "You'd ground me over something this stupid?"

"It's not stupid, and yes... I will." Chance smirked. "Four minutes and 59 seconds." He tapped his watch. "58... 57... 56..."

"Fine!" Jake pushed himself up. "Go away."

Chance held up his paws in defense and left the doorway, smirking as he turned to head down the stairs.

"I don't know why he has to be such an asshole about this," Jake grumbled. "It's not _his_ grandfather." He grabbed the baggy jeans he wore the day before. "He didn't say I had to look nice."

* * *

"You aren't wearing that to church," Rita said as she put a plate of eggs and bacon in front of Jake.

"We aren't going to church until later," Jake replied, mimicking her sweet tone.

"Just making sure you know." Rita sat down and took a sip of her juice.

"So tell me, Jacob..." William started to say.

"It's Jake," the teen interrupted without looking up from the eggs he was pushing around his plate with a fork.

"Are ya sweet on any girls?" William finished with a sly look.

Jake shook his head. "Nope," he replied. "At least not anymore," he thought.

"Young tom your age?" The elderly kat looked surprised. "You aren't one of those weirdos, are ya?"

Jake looked up, arching one of his eyebrows. "_Weirdos_?"

"Oh yeah. Ya know the ones." William scrunched up his nose in disgust. "Foolin' 'round with their own kind."

Jake blinked. "You're asking if I'm gay?" He snorted. "No. I had a girlfriend. Emphasis on 'had'. I've got too much other stuff going on to have time for that." He looked back down at his food. "Rita, I'm really not hungry."

Rita eyed his untouched plate and let out a long, tired sigh. "Alright. Go... take a shower or something."

Jake rolled his eyes as he left the table. He had never been more ready for a trip to Pawline Springs to be over.

* * *

Chance knew that he would probably see Melissa at church, but it didn't mean it would make it easier. He avoided eye contact as much as he could, something Jake was doing with Blake. Of course, Blake wasn't actively trying to win Jake's attention. Chance sighed and did his best to ignore the feeling of someone's unwavering gaze.

"Chance," Melissa made her move as soon as the service was over. "Can't we please talk about this?"

"There's nothing to talk about," Chance replied. "I've moved on."

"You... you've already found someone else?" Melissa appeared to be shocked.

"Yep. We had a date just the other night." Chance folded his arms over his chest. He and Callie hadn't committed to anything, but Melissa didn't need to know that.

"Oh," Melissa was crestfallen. "Well I..." She huffed out a small laugh. "I feel like a fool."

Chance simply shrugged, having nothing more to say.

"I suppose you will still be coming here every so often?" Melissa asked politely.

"I suppose so," Chance replied.

"Well, then maybe we will see each other around."

"Maybe."

Melissa sighed. "Merry Christmas, Chance." She turned on her heel and walked away with her paw on her cheek while she contemplated whether to be embarrassed or just hurt.

Meanwhile, Jake was having his own issues as he watched Sandy from across the room. She was talking to Blake, who knew that, as long as he was there, Jake wasn't going to make a move. The teen sighed and looked around for Chance or Rita.

"Ya haven't got any friends here?"

Jake fought the urge to groan as he regarded his grandfather. "I did."

William seated himself in the pew next to Jake. "Ya 'had' and girlfriend and ya 'did' have friends. What's a'matter wit' ya? Ya got leprosy or something?"

Jake shook his head but didn't say anything.

"Well then what happened?" William prodded.

Jake sighed and nodded his head at Blake. "_He_ was my friend until he tried to get my girlfriend to break up with me by telling her I was cheating on her."

"That why she isn't yer girl anymore?" William asked.

Jake shook his head. "Nope. She cheated on my with one of my other friends and got pregnant."

"Oh boy! What a scandal. I tell ya, Jacob, nuthin' like that ever happened when I was a school boy." William clicked his tongue. "Well with friends like that, who needs enemies!"

"Yeah." Jake sighed, spotting Chance. "Can we go already?"

"Yeah as soon as Ma gets done having 20 minute conversations with everyone she knows." Chance glowered. "Which is everybody in this town."

* * *

The trip home was silent except for awkward exchange between Rita and William as she attempted to draw interest out of Jake by asking the old tom about his country, about Miriam, and whatever else she could think of. It was futile, though, as the teen ignored them, choosing instead to stare vacantly at the passing snow-blanketed landscape. He let out a long tired sigh when the car came to a stop in front of the old house and everyone started to get out. It would be time for Christmas dinner once all the family that had been at Aunt Mable's for Thanksgiving showed up. Jake considered isolating himself in his room with his video game.

Jake dutifully helped Rita set the table before schooling his face into the most miserable expression he could manage before quietly telling her that he wasn't feeling so great, and thought he might just go to bed. It was so convincing, Rita psyched herself into believing he felt feverish and sent him straight upstairs. The teen closed the door and removed the laptop he'd snatched from Chance's room and sprawled out onto his stomach to watch a movie, keeping the volume low enough to hear if someone was coming upstairs.

* * *

"I'm so sorry, William," Rita apologized quietly. "I truly thought Jake would be excited to see you."

"Eh," William shrugged. His feelings were a bit hurt, but there was no reason in making the poor lady feel worse. "He'll come around. It's hard, I imagine, to have something like this dropped in yer lap, especially with as much as it seems he has t' deal with."

"Still," Rita frowned. "I imagined things going so much better."  
William patted her on the paw. "Think nothin' of it, my dear." He smiled. "I enjoyed the company non the less."

Rita smiled a bit. "You really are a charming old tom, aren't you?" She chuckled as she put the rest of the leftovers away. "You get some sleep. We have to be up early to get to the airport."

* * *

Jake was quiet the entire trip home, seemingly lost in thought. Chance would try to get something out of him, but the boy would just shrug or offer one word answers. Truth be told, Jake did feel guilty for not spending as much time getting to know his grandfather as Rita had expected. But what was the point? He would go back to Ireland, and Jake back to the city, only to never see each other again. Why get close to someone when your next correspondence might just be a notice of the old kat's death? Jake saw it as just one more kat that would be in his life just long enough to make an appearance, and he wasn't about to get attached.

_**So I'm not going to make promises on how long it will take for the next chapter, as I now have a baby, a full time job, and an article to write. *pulls hair out and screams* Ok... deep breaths... count to ten... I can do this... just breathe...**_


	14. Chapter 14

**_I couldn't remember if I ever gave Fritz a first name. I browsed through both stories to see if I mentioned one anywhere and couldn't find it. If I did, please feel free to correct me. I didn't feel like re-reading the last 13 chapters. This one's a little short. I'm building up to something else. Jake will find himself getting into quite a bit of trouble in the future. Hey... even vigilante boy-geniuses are subject to peer-pressure._**

Jake wasn't in the mood to hear Miranda's "I told you so" speech, so when she approached him that first day back with her smug grin, it was all he could do not to punch her.

"So how's Becky?" She purred.

"Can it, Miranda," Jake snorted. "Unless you have something important to say, I don't want to hear it."

Miranda shrugged. "Nope. Just wanted to see how it feels to be wrong." She smirked. "Good luck explaining to people that your girlfriend cheated on you."

Jake ignored her and walked into the boys room, praying she'd be gone when he came back out.

"Heard your new friends stabbed you in the back."

Jake turned slowly. "Jason?" The black furred teen looked even thinner and was dressed in torn jeans with a studded belt and a black t-shirt. "You look awful."

"And you look depressed." Jason snorted.

"Yeah well..." Jake trailed off. "How've you been?  
Jason shrugged. "Stuck at home. Heard you have Mr. Lyon. You probably don't want to be late."  
"Yeah," Jake frowned. "Maybe I'll see you at lunch."

"Yeah," Jason said on his way out. "Maybe."

* * *

Jake was starting his day with Advanced English II, which also meant he was starting his day with a huge exam. Mr. Lyon was every bit the bastard Jake feared he would be. "Good thing I studied," Jake thought. For once, he wasn't finished before everyone else. In fact, Jake worked right up until the bell. As he was finishing the test, Mr Lyon was issuing an assignment on verb conjugation and a novel they were to begin reading. A couple of girls were whispering nearby.

"Cute _and_ smart," one giggled. "I heard he's on the football team."

"He's the one that got that cheerleader pregnant," the other whispered.

Jake's eyes widened and he turned. The young she-kat that had said it was a mousey pale white kitty with fine blonde hair and glasses. She blushed when she realized Jake had heard her. "Where did you hear that?" He hissed.

"Well," the girl ducked her head shyly, suddenly nervous. "B-Becky, she was telling someone she was pregnant and... I overheard her say your name."

Jake clenched his jaw and glowered.

"You are her boyfriend, aren't you?" She asked.

"I was." Jake looked away. "Not anymore."

"Jacob, Alyssa, would you liked to share your discussion with the rest of the class?" Mr. Lyon issued a fiery glare that immediately silenced the conversation. The bell rang soon after and Jake grabbed his books and rushed out. He had time to find Becky before his Government and Economics class.

Becky was at her locker, trading out books. For once, her friends weren't around. Jake slammed his paw against the neighboring locker loudly. Becky shot him a startled look.

"What do you want?" She asked in a tired voice.

"What are you telling kats?" Jake hissed. "Because I keep hearing whispers about how _I_ got you pregnant."

"Well you are my boyfriend. What do you think kats are going to say?"

Jake frowned. "Was. I _was_. And you have a responsibility to tell the truth."

"_I_ have a responsibility?" Becky choked. "You wanna know who's telling lies, talk to Fritz. As for you, I have no problems telling everyone that you're an innocent little virgin." She slammed her locker and stalked off.

* * *

Jake could barely focus throughout second period. He was furious. Wasn't Fritz supposed to be his friend? Instead he steals his girl, gets her pregnant, and then denies it. Jake drummed his pencil anxiously on his notebook as Miss Shen went over the syllabus for the new semester. When the bell rant, he went straight to Advanced Geometry, hoping the day would just end.

Geometry promised to be his easiest class. It was a type of math he used often in his weapons designs. Angles and trajectories were important. As Mrs. Tomlin went over the course outline, however, Jake felt a sudden knot in his gut, a feeling of having forgotten more than what his peers had yet to learn.

When the lunch bell rang, Jake let out a sigh of relief. Opting for just an apple and a small carton of milk, he went outside. It was cold, but sunny... and vacant. Everyone else had opted for the warm interior of the cafeteria rather than the chilly picnic area. Jake shuddered and sat down on the cement steps, silently enjoying his apple. The doors opened behind him and someone sat down beside him.

"So you ditched your old friends for your new friends only to have no friends at all."

Jake's ears fell flat against his head. "I never ditched you, Jason. You ditched me. Remember?"

Jason shrugged. "I have my issues, Jake, but what that Fritz kat did to you was just dirty. I wouldn't ever think of doing something like that, even if I was into she-kats."

Jake let out a long sigh but said nothing else.

"I'm surprised you haven't kicked his ass yet." Jason kept on. "I figured that would have been your first move."

"I haven't even seen him." Jake said quietly.

"So are you still going to play next year?" Jason asked.

"Was thinking about it."

Jason huffed. "After all this?"

"Regardless of the character flaws some of the other kats might have," Jake looked at Jason. "I actually enjoy the sport. I was never doing it for friends or to be popular. I just like it."

Jason shook his head. "I can accept that. I'm still not going to your games. They're boring."

Jake laughed halfheartedly. The bell rang and he stood up, tossing the apple core into a distant trash can with ease.

"Fritz hangs out by the senior parking lot after school." Jason said as he got up.

"Why are you telling me this?" Jake asked.

"Figured you'd want to know where you could find him. You know, so you can put an end to his rumor spreading." Jason shrugged. "I'll see you around."

Jake furrowed his brow in thought as he walked back to class. Chance said he'd be about ten minutes late picking him up today. He had time to find Fritz and speak his mind. That's all that was going to happen anyway... he was just going to speak his mind, get it off his chest and walk away.

As third period ended and fourth began, Jake could feel his temper rising. The more he thought about it, the angrier he got. He was so distracted that Mr. Spieker had to correct him three times during simple practice scales. Finally, the day came to a close and Jake left the classroom. For a moment, he hesitated. Did he forget about Fritz and just go wait on Chance like he was expected to do? Jake furrowed his brow. Chance wouldn't stand for some jerk pulling this kind of shit on him. Renewed, the teen turned and went the other way, towards the senior parking lot.

"I'm just going to talk to him," Jake said as he walked outside, coaching himself. But as he neared Fritz, who was laughing and talking to some of the varsity players, talking seemed like such an absurd idea.

"Hey Furlong!" TL shouted. "Where ya been?"

Jake ignored TL and LaCroix and went straight for Fritz.

"Jake," Fritz offered a flimsy smile. "What's u..."

Before he could finish the question, Jake swung his fist with as much force as he could muster into Fritz's mouth. Blood splashed out of his busted lips.

"What the fuck?" Fritz stumbled backwards and spat out a glob of saliva and blood.

"Like you don't know." Jake hissed. "Why don't you tell people the truth about Becky?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Fritz replied with a smirk. "She's your girlfriend."

"Yeah. Until you slept with her and got her pregnant." Jake hissed, drawing out gasps and mumbles from the crowd.

"Like you weren't hitting that." Fritz growled.

"Actually," Jake snarled. "I wasn't."

"That's not what she said." Fritz shook his head.

"You sure she said that?" Jake clenched his fists again. "Or did you? Because I'm starting to get the impression that you're just one big flaky liar."

Flustered and embarrassed, Fritz swung at Jake, but missed when the smaller kat ducked and retaliated. What was supposed to have just been a verbal confrontation immediately turned into a full fledged brawl between the two teens.

* * *

"Jake's going to be so surprised to see that you decided to stay in the city," Chance grinned at William as he started to pull into the school parking lot.

"I'm not so sure he was too thrilled to see me in th' first place," Jake's grandfather said with a soft chuckle. "But there ain't much for me in Ireland. Jacob is me only kin left."

Chance started to respond but his cell phone started to ring. "Speak of the devil, huh?" He chuckled as he answered. "Where are you? You're supposed to be waiting for me."

"About that," Jake said. "There's been... an incident. You're gonna have to come inside."

"What kind of incident?" Chance's tone darkened.

Jake chuckled nervously. "The kind that might have gotten me suspended."

Chance ended the call without another word. "It seems Jake has gotten in some kind of trouble. Do you mind staying here?"

"Not at all." William shrugged with a smirk. "Lad's got a bit o'the devil in him after all," he chuckled.

Chance left the the elderly kat with the car running and went into the school. To be honest, he wasn't at all surprised to see Fritz was somehow involved in the skirmish. What was shocking, however, was the amount of bloodshed and fur-loss. Also a surprise, were the two uniformed officers who had each of the boys in cuffs. Chance had to swallow back the immediate urge to start shouting. "What," he asked calmly, "in God's name happened?"

Jake opened and closed his mouth as he tried to find the most convincing way to explain why he shouldn't be in trouble for defending his reputation.

"No. Never mind. I'm sure this has something to do with Becky and Fritz." Chance dragged a paw down his face. "Why is he handcuffed?"

Mrs. Catsby sighed. "The fight between the two was so violent, we had to call the authorities to separate them. An incident report has been filed and they have both been suspended for two weeks. The officers will release them to their parents." She sighed again. "Mr. Furlong, since Jacob has admitted to starting the fight, Fritz... er.. Michael's parents may decide to press assault charges."

"Assault charges?" Chance nearly choked. "And what about Fritz slandering Jake's name by claiming he's the one who got that little girl pregnant? Can I file charges against Fritz for that? Because by now I'm sure the whole school thinks Jake's the one responsible."

"That's something you will have to take up with the Enforcers." Mrs. Catsby replied. "You will need to sign for his release, and also for your understanding of Jacob's suspension."

Jake was quiet until they reached the exit. "Hey Chance." His guardian didn't respond. "How did you know Fritz was telling everyone that it was me who did that to Becky?"

Chance turned to give him an icy glare, but softened his expression. "Because it's the only thing I could think of to make you do something so stupid." He shook his head. "At least you managed to avoid getting hit in the mouth. But that eye needs some ice, and it's going to take a while for all that fur to grow back. Did he get you anywhere else?"

Jake blinked. "Besides clawing the shit out of my arms and blacking my eye?" He thought. "No. He got the worst of it." He paused as the car came into view and he could see in the passenger seat. "What's he doing here?"

"He's decided to stay." Chance smirked.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Jake looked frantic. "What about...?" He left the question open-ended.

"Relax." Chance said. "He's staying with Ma."

"Why?" Jake frowned.

"Until he can find a place of his own." Chance replied matter-of-factly.

Jake rolled his eyes. "Why is he here, Chance?"

Chance shrugged. "Because he wants to be. Because you're his only living family." He shook his head. "He's old, Jake. He wants to be near family. Give him a chance."

"Yeah whatever." Jake huffed and got into the car.

William let out a low whistle. "I sure hope the other tom looks worse."

"Yeah," Jake said quietly.

"When I was yer age there was only one thing that could cause a skirmish like that." William gave a sly smile in the mirror. "A she-kat."

Jake rolled his eyes. He didn't want to talk about it.

"You bet your tail it was a she-kat." Chance said as he got in. He slammed the door. "Jake, I swear to God, you better hope Fritz's parents don't press charges. In the meantime, you can count on not doing anything or going anywhere for the next two weeks unless it's work related or to help Ma."

Jake folded his arms over his chest and glared out the window. "I'm not sorry," he mumbled.


	15. Chapter 15

Susan Sharpclaw gave Jake a disappointed look. "You know, seeing your social worker often in situations like this usually isn't a good sign."

"You can spare me the lecture," Jake slouched in his seat while he waited for his case to come up. He still couldn't believe Fritz's parents were pressing charges. "I already heard it all from Chance."

"Oh good. So he is acting like a parent. Well maybe my suggestion to the judge will help you appreciate what you have a little more."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Jake looked worried.

"You'll see." Susan patted him on the knee as the first trial was called to the bench.

* * *

The last time Jake stood in this spot, staring at the judge, he wasn't in that much trouble. He really hadn't done anything serious. This time, however, he stood on shaking legs, clenching his sweaty palms. The Fritzgeralds were claiming aggravated assault. When the judge asked him to explain what happened, however, things took a slight turn in his favor... only a slight turn. As it would happen, Fritz's parents didn't know about Becky.

The judge sighed. "While your anger over the situation is understandable, I'm afraid your actions were not acceptable." He shook his head and looked over at Fritz. "You should be ashamed of yourself." He turned back to face Jake. "Normally I would rule that someone in your place attend pre-trial intervention, however, your social worker has given me a better idea. I am having you temporarily removed from your legal guardian's care and placed in another home for the next 30 days where you will be required to adhere to their household rules, and will be subject to their disciplinary methods."

Stunned, Jake stood at the podium for a few seconds after the case was dismissed. As he walked back towards Chance, he noticed a solemn, but unsurprised look on his face. Immediately his blood boiled with betrayal. "You knew about this?"

Chance shook his head. "She only just told me when your case got called."

Susan was waiting outside the courtroom. Jake glared at her with hatred. "Have your things packed by tomorrow. I will pick you up at two."

Jake didn't respond; he just kept walking as if she hadn't said a thing. He'd gone from trembling from nerves to visibly shaking with anger. He stalked ahead of Chance and silently got in the car, slamming the door shut.

"Is this really necessary?" Chance asked Susan, his tone laced with disappointment.

"Would you rather he spend 30 days in juvenile detention and miss even more school?" Susan asked. "This way he gets a look at what could happen if he keeps following his own rules instead of the ones already set in place."

"He has a hard time trusting anyone. I just feel like this is a bad idea." Chance pleaded. "Couldn't you place him with my mom or something? I mean, she's pretty strict."

"No. Chance, I assure you that the family he will be living with for the next month are more than capable of handling Jake. They have two kittens of their own. It will be a learning experience." Susan patted him on the arm. "You can even call and check on him. It isn't like you aren't allowed to see him. You can still attend his school functions. You just can't take him home until the 30 days have passed."

"Time served." Chance narrowed his eyes. "You might as well have sent him to juvie." He shook his head and proceeded to his vehicle.

* * *

After ten minutes of driving in silence, Chance attempted to break it. "Look, Jake, I..."

"Just shut up, Chance." Jake mumbled.

Chance fought the urge to reprimand the teen for his attitude. After all, who could blame the kid? Instead, he resigned himself to the silent treatment, hoping it would end before Jake was gone.

* * *

Chance rapped his knuckles against the door frame and poked his head inside Jake's room. "You all set."

"This is bullshit, Chance." Jake replied. It was the first time he'd spoken to Chance since he told him to shut up the day before.

"I agree." Chance nodded. "But there's nothing I can do. Just keep in mind that these kats you're going to be staying with, this isn't their fault."

"Yeah." Jake grabbed his duffel bag, backpack and suitcase. "Right."

"I'll call you tonight; give ya chance to get settled in first." Chance said, following Jake through the small home to the front door. "Or you can call me. That's fine too."

Jake stopped at the bottom of the steps, causing Chance to nearly collide with him. Outside, he could see Susan waiting next to her government issued sedan. A lump formed in his throat and his feet felt suddenly glued to the floor. The desire to not leave was so great, he felt sick and had a prickly feeling like tears forming in his eyes. Quickly he blinked them away and turned to face Chance. "So this is it, huh?" Uncertainty tainted his voice.

"Yeah." Chance could read him like a book. He felt the same sick feeling. After a moment of uncomfortable silence, and just as Jake was about to turn back around and walk out, the tabby put a firm paw on his shoulder. "It's gonna be fine."

It was almost the teen's undoing. "No it won't," he said in a flimsy voice.

Chance heaved a deep sigh and pulled Jake in for a hug. "Yes it will." He almost felt like he was reassuring himself more than he was reassuring Jake. After another moment, he released the teenager, took one of the bags from him and followed him outside. After helping stash Jake's belongings in the trunk, Chance surprised Jake by getting into the car.

"What are you doing?" Jake asked, shock evident on his face.

"What? You think I'm just gonna let her cart you off to some unknown place to stay with kats I've never met before?" Chance grinned. "What kind of guardian would I be if I did that?"

Jake felt some of the tension melt away. "Thanks," he said quietly.

They rode in tense silence for twenty minutes before Susan turned into a gated subdivision. Jake watched each house go by, waiting and holding his breath until they pulled into the driveway of a Tudor style two-story with a double garage and a privacy fence surrounding the back yard. The yard was beautifully landscaped. Even in the winter, you could tell that the grass and flower beds were well taken care of.

"We'll come back and get your things after you've been introduced," Susan chirped cheerfully as she got out of the car. Jake watched Chance get out and shook his head. He couldn't do this. There was no way. And then Chance was opening his door and saying something but it sounded like a dull roar in his ears. Sweet clarity came in a warm paw on the back of his neck.

"Jake?" Chance's voice sounded worried.

Unfrozen, Jake turned to look at his guardian. "I can't do this."

"You have to." Chance frowned. "Are you okay?"

"No." Jake swallowed against that tight feeling in his throat. "I don't even know these kats. How many times in my life am I gonna be dumped on someone else so they can deal with me?"

Chance felt his gut twist. "Jake, it's not like that. I don't have a choice."

Jake felt like all his insecurities were coming back to swallow him up. All the times his dad left him to be someone else's problem, his time in the Enforcers, even going to live with Chance... all times he'd been handed over to someone else so they could deal with him. Anxiety clenched his stomach and his chest. He blinked and some how lost time. He went from having Chance's paw on the back of his neck to having his head held between his knees, and Chance's deep voice in his ear. "Breathe deep, Jake. Breathe deep."

Jake sucked in lungful after lungful of air. His chest burned; so did his throat. This would mark his third ever panic attack.

"You with me?" Chance sounded shaken.

Jake nodded stiffly, fighting the urge to vomit.

"Jesus Christ," Chance whispered. "What the hell was that?"

Jake only just realized Susan had a hold of his wrist, two fingers pressed against his pulse.

"Does he have anxiety attacks often?" And unfamiliar female voice.

Chance had a flashback to how he'd found Jake after the snake incident, and shook his head. "Only the second one I've ever seen." And even then, he hadn't actually seen it.

"Chance," Jake choked out. "Can you just... leave me alone for a second?"

"Sure kid." Chance gave his shoulder a firm squeeze before standing up from his kneeling position beside the car. He gave Susan a sharp look and she released his wrist, gently placing his paw in his lap. They walked away from the car. "Chance," Susan said in a shaken voice. "This is Judith Sharpclaw."

Chance held out a paw to the petite brown furred she-kat.

"Chance," Judith said in a soft but firm voice. "You can call me Judy." She pointed behind her to her husband. "This is Allen, my husband. And I'll introduce the kittens when we go inside." Judy tilted her head towards the car. "Should I be concerned?"

"That doesn't happen a lot." Chance shook his head. "The last time, he was at school. I've never actually seen it." In truth, he was shaken, and it was obvious. "Listen, Jake's got some abandonment issues. His father..." He wasn't sure how much to say. "He had a bad habit of just leaving the kid for others to deal with. You can understand why I'm not too comfortable with this, right?"

Judy let out a breath she'd clearly been holding. "This isn't the first time we've been called to do this sort of thing. We make sure to keep the lines of communication open. In fact, we encourage it. I don't want him thinking you're handing him off to someone else. From what Susan has told me, Jake hasn't had much in the way of a normal kitten-hood. I want this to be a learning experience and an opportunity for him to get his head on straight."

Chance frowned. "His head is on straight. He's a good kid. He just... has trouble handling things the right way."

"He'll be fine." Judy patted him on the arm.

Unconvinced, Chance returned to the car. Jake was leaning back against the seat, eyes closed. "Jake," he knelt back down, knees popping loudly. Jake opened his eyes just enough to give Chance a glimpse of the tortured look in his piercing green eyes. "If I have to tell you this every day I will. Look at me." He took hold of one of Jake's paws. The teen inhaled sharply before fully opening his eyes and locking them with Chance's. "Are you listening?"

Jake nodded stiffly.

"I am not abandoning you. I wouldn't dream of it. You have your cell phone. I don't care if it's four in the morning, if you need to call me for anything, even if it's just to talk, do it. I won't be mad. And you know the absolute only reason I won't answer it. I'm not your father. I'm not dumping you on someone else. And you aren't my problem. I love you, kid. And if anything happens to you while you're here, there will be hell to pay. You can count on it. I promise." Chance squeezed Jake's paw as hard as he could without hurting him. "You got it?"

Jake nodded again.

"Need to hear you say it, kid."

Jake nodded. "I got it," he said in a harsh whisper. "I got it."

"Alright. Now let's do this." Chance stood up, keeping a firm hold of Jake's paw to help him out of the car. Once Jake was standing, Chance moved his paw to between the teen's shoulders, as if escorting Jake to his new, temporary home.

Judy offered a kind smile. This wasn't the first teen to grace her doorstep looking so lost and desperate. Though this was the first to already have a loving home and family. She took a moment to take the boy in. He was only an inch or so taller than she, and as thin as they come. There was a shy attractiveness to him, as he stood there in his bomber jacket, slightly fitted long sleeved shirt and faded jeans, that had her worried about having him in her home with her teenage daughter.

"Is it alright if we call you Jake?" She asked.

Jake nodded stiffly. Judy introduced herself and her husband and then welcomed them into their home. She asked that they remove their shoes in the foyer before leading them past the stairwell into a large living room with high ceilings. Seated on the couch was a she-kat that had to be Jake's age and a boy who looked about five. "I'd like for you to meet my kittens. This is Cadence. She's a year older than you, Jake. And that's Thomas. He's six." Thomas looked like he was bursting with questions but had been instructed to keep quiet. He sat on the couch on his knees, staring at all of them, biting his lip, eyes wide with curiosity. Cadence simply greeted them politely. Jake wondered why he'd never seen her at school. Of course, with her very short cream colored fur and short brown bob, she was rather plain. Nothing like Suri, who had immediately grabbed his attention.

"Thomas and Cadence are home-schooled." Judy answered Jake's unasked question. He shot her a worried look. "Don't worry. You will still attend your classes. I understand you're quite the honors student." She smiled approvingly. "Let me show you around the house and where your room is." Judy led Jake up the stairs, talking as she went, pointing out bedrooms and bathrooms.

Chance lingered behind, turning to face Allen, who remained silent. "So I guess you work and Judy stays home?"

Allen nodded. "Yeah. She takes care of the kids, handles their lessons, cooks, cleans." He chuckled. "A regular Susie-homemaker."

"Uh huh." Chance forced a chuckle. "And what do you do?"

"I'm an attorney," he replied.

"That explains the nice house," Chance thought. "Looks like you run a pretty tight ship." The house was spotless.

"Well, Cadence has some health problems. Keeping the house clean is kind of important in that aspect." Allen didn't say what her health problems were. "That's why we home-school the kits. She would miss too many days in a public school." He looked thoughtful. "Tommy will be going to school next year, though."

* * *

"And this will be your room," Judy opened a door leading into a tidy room with one large window over-looking the back yard, which housed a pool, covered for the winter, and a tree house. "I ask that you keep the room clean and make the bed every morning." Jake nodded, but inside he was cringing. "That will be 'yes ma'am'." She corrected the action. "I understand you play the piano at school?"

Jake nodded again and quickly added a quiet "yes ma'am."

Judy smiled. "We have a piano downstairs. You can use it. Beyond that, no loud music. No food upstairs. No girls. Lights out at ten. We eat breakfast, lunch and dinner as a family. The only exception is when you are in school. You will do your homework downstairs, and you won't hide in your room. For the next thirty days, you are apart of this family."

Jake was silent. All he could think was "but it's not my family." He obediently followed Judy back downstairs where he could hear Chance painfully trying to make polite conversation. Jake winced. He didn't want to do this at all. Without a doubt, it was going to be the most painful 30 days of his life. No Chance. No Charlie. No Rita. Not even his grandfather that he hadn't even really had a chance to get to know. "Not that I want to," he added to the thought, just to reassure himself.

After another hour of getting to know the family Jake would be staying with, Chance helped Jake get his stuff up to his room. Susan needed to leave at that point, which meant Chance did too since he rode with them. Jake followed them back outside.

"Call me. I mean it. I don't care what time it is. If you need to talk about anything. I don't care if it's school or a movie or what." Chance put his paws on Jake's shoulders. "You're gonna be okay. Just follow their rules. And it will be February before you know it."

Jake felt like a little kitten. He wanted to cry and beg Chance not to leave him there. Instead, he gave a stiff nod and a firm hug and promised he would be okay. Inside, he was screaming, pleading not to be left again.

* * *

"Jake, why don't you go ahead and unpack your stuff?" Judy said politely when the teen came back inside. It sounded more like an order than a request. Sluggishly, he trudged upstairs to his room and quietly shut the door, unsurprised to find it didn't lock. "I'm surprised there aren't bars on the window," he mumbled and unzipped his duffel bag. He unceremoniously dumped his belongings onto the bed and was surprised when something reflective tumbled out as well. Digging through his jeans and t-shirts, Jake found a black photo frame. Inside was a picture Rita had taken of Chance and Jake over the summer. Right away, Jake propped it up on the night stand. He considered just stuffing his clothes into the dresser, but feared Judy would check to see if he'd properly hung and folded his clothing. So Jake painstakingly took the time to do just that. He'd just plugged his laptop and cell phone in to charge when the door opened. It was Thomas. Jake raised an eyebrow. "Can I help you?" He braced himself for the impending onslaught of questions.

"Mommy said to tell you it's time for dinner."

"Okay." Jake slid his suitcase and duffel bag under the bed, leaving his backpack against the dresser. He would need it when his suspension was over.

"What did you do?" Thomas asked.

"What did I do for what?" Jake asked.

"To be sent here. Only bad kids get sent here."

Jake snorted. "I got in a fight."

"That's it?" Thomas was in disbelief. "Most of the other kits do way worse stuff than fighting. This one time, there was this one boy, he was _real_ mean to daddy. He said he got sent here because he pulled a gun on his mommy! Daddy said he was on drugs, and that drugs are real bad. Are you on drugs?"

"No." Jake replied, rolling his eyes as he left his room.

"That's good because if you were, you would get in big trouble." Thomas hurried behind Jake. "Was it a bad fight?"

"Yes." Jake was going to stick to the one word answers.

"Did you kill someone?"

Jake turned to glare at the kid. "No."

"That's good. Why did you get in a fight?"

Jake shrugged.

"Did you start it?"

"Yes." Jake was getting annoyed.

"Why? What did the other kat do to you?"

Again Jake just shrugged as he entered the dining room, silently pleading the kid would get distracted.

"Thomas, Jake, did you boys wash your paws?" Judy asked sweetly.

Jake turned back, rolling his eyes again as soon as his back was turned, and went into the kitchen.

"You don't talk much, do you?" Thomas asked while Jake washed his paws.

"No." Jake replied, quickly drying his paws and returning to the dining room.

"Jake, you can sit here beside me," Allen said, pointing to an extra chair to his right.

Again, Jake perceived it more as an order instead of a suggestion.

"Okay," Judy smiled as she sat down. "Tommy, it's your turn to say grace."

"You've got to be kidding me," Jake thought, watching everyone bow their heads. He fought the urge to sigh loudly as he followed suit.

Thomas said some cute little rhyming prayer followed by the standard 'amen.'

"So Jake, tell us a little about yourself." Judy encouraged as she put some salad on Thomas' plate and then some on her own.

"Um..." Jake looked down at the baked chicken and mashed potatoes. "What do you want to know?"

"Well Susan said that Chance is your legal guardian. How did you come to stay with him? What happened to your parents?"

Jake paled slightly. "Susan... she didn't tell you any of this?"

"She told us a little bit, but most of your records are either sealed or classified." Allen answered.

"Okay." Jake sucked in a deep breath. "What do you already know?"

"That you're incredibly smart. In fact, you've already graduated with a bachelors degree. Why are you in high school?" Judy asked.

"It's court ordered," Jake replied simply.

"So you get into trouble often?" Allen asked.

Jake shot him a hateful look. "Oh all the time," he replied sarcastically.

"Now that's not necessary," Judy scolded. "And do stop playing with your food."

Jake fought the urge to simply drop the fork onto his plate. Instead, he quietly set it down and put his paws in his lap.

"If you plan on leaving this table anytime soon, you're going to have to eat what's on your plate, dear." Judy said in a deceptively polite voice.

Jake sucked in a deep breath. "Seriously? What's with all the rules?"

Judy blinked at the insolent tone. "Chance doesn't have rules?"

"I mean, yeah a few, but it's not like an entire law book." Jake scoffed.

"What are some of his rules?" She asked.

Jake shrugged. "You know, no smoking or drinking. No lying. No sneaking out. That sort of thing."

"You don't have to keep your room clean?" Tommy asked, envy in his voice.

"Well, yeah, but it's not a rule. It's just a chore. If I don't do it, it's not like a serious crime or something." Jake shrugged.

"So there is no punishment for not doing your chores?" Judy raised an eyebrow.

"I mean... I don't get an allowance if I don't do them..." Jake shrugged. "It's not life or death. Besides, just because I'm smarter than everyone else at my school doesn't mean it doesn't take long for me to do my homework. I have all honors classes plus my music, so I have at least two hours of homework and I have to practice. And that's not counting football season. Making the bed seems like a waste of energy that could be focused onto something more important. And the bed's just gonna get messed up again at the end of the day."

"So what's the punishment for breaking the rules?" Allen asked.

"I dunno." Jake looked down at his plate. "I guess getting grounded." He shrugged. "A long-winded lecture and my phone and laptop taken away is usually what happens. That and not being allowed to leave the house except for school stuff and to walk the dog."

"When you say 'usually', does that mean you get in trouble often?" Judy asked.

"Uh..." Jake felt like he'd been lured into a trap. "Um, not really."

"Tommy," Judy looked at her son's empty plate. "You're finished. Why don't you go play?"

The six year old pouted. He wanted to hear the conversation. "You too, Cadence. Go take your medicine and work on some of your lessons."

"Yes ma'am." Cadence said politely and stood up. "Come on Tommy." She picked up both their plates. "You can watch TV while I read."

Thomas, still pouting, obediently followed his sister.

"So which one was it?" Allen asked in a quiet but stern voice that gave Jake a chill.

"Which one... what?" Jake was hesitant.

"Which one of Chance's rules have you broken? You listed what I consider serious felonies under this roof." He locked eyes with the teen. "Drinking?"

"Um," Jake's eyes drifted down and to the left. He started to shake his head.

"Lying." Allen smirked. "Would it be a fair assessment to say, perhaps, all of the above?"

Jake felt his cheeks and ears flush. He chose to just keep his mouth shut. He could give the silent treatment like a pro. Chance could attest to that.

"We won't tolerate any of that sort of behavior around here." Allen said after Jake refused to respond. "Drugs and alcohol are strictly prohibited."

"So is avoiding the subject." Judy added.

"Any other rules you want to add? Or should I just assume that, no matter what I'm doing, I'm doing something I shouldn't?" Jake finally snapped.

"If you aren't going to eat, I think it would be best if you went to bed." Judy said.

"It's seven-o-clock." Jake balked.

"Yes." She said, standing up and taking his plate. "It is."

"Whatever." Jake huffed and stood up. "Would rather be somewhere else anyway."

Somehow, Jake found it in him not to slam the door. Seeing that his phone was fully charged, he unplugged it, threw himself on the bed and sent Chance a message:

"This FUCKING sucks!"

_**When I first started writing this series, it was under a different title and had some major differences. One of those key differences was Cadence. I love her character and I wanted to work her into this story. I know the plot turn might seem a bit kooky at first, but I do have a master plan. =D **_


	16. Chapter 16

Chance felt a pang of heartache as he read Jake's text message. It sent a resounding echo throughout the eerily quiet apartment above the garage. Even Charlie seemed to be sulking as she laid on the floor with her head on her paws, staring up at Chance with watery brown eyes. "I know, girl." He sat down on the couch with a heavy sigh. "I hate this too." Right now, he'd be trying to throw together something quick for dinner while Jake either did his homework or worked on something Swat Kat related. Instead, Chance had forgone dinner. He wasn't hungry, and he was sitting in a quiet living room with the television turned off, while staring at the coffee table. It just felt wrong. What ensued was a text-conversation that would last several hours while Jake vented about all their rules, how annoying Thomas was, and how he was sent to bed at 7 because he refused to eat.

Chance couldn't help but feel some of Jake's explanations were more than a little exaggerated, but he wasn't going to call the boy on it. Instead, he listened and did his best to say what Jake wanted to hear without overriding the new rules set in place. It was a horrible position to be in. On one paw, Chance felt that maybe being a little stricter on Jake wasn't such a bad thing. On the other, he knew Jake was feeling pretty lousy, and didn't want the kid slipping into one of his funks of self-deprecation.

Chance scrubbed a paw down his face and groaned. It had been almost an hour since the last message. He wondered if Jake had fallen asleep. Or what if Jake thought _he_ had fallen asleep? Chance sent a quick message asking if the kid was still awake. Almost immediately, he received a response.

"Yeah."

The tabby looked at the time. It was beyond late. He was tired, but didn't think he could sleep. No. He _knew_ he couldn't sleep. In fact, he probably wouldn't be sleeping much for the next few weeks.

* * *

Jake watched the sun come up through the large double window. His head hurt, and his stomach ached. He was physically and emotionally exhausted. It wasn't after much longer that he heard the sounds of a waking household. The flush of a toilet. The padding of footsteps. A perfect "Leave It To Beaver" family that Jake didn't want to be apart of. Jake let out a long, suffering sigh. Surely there had to be a way out of this. "No," he thought. "I'm sure it would just make things even worse for me."

He laid on the bed for a while longer before there was a knock on the door. "Are you decent?" It was Allen. Jake rolled his eyes, hoping if he ignored him, he would go away. No such luck. The door swung open.

Allen didn't seem too surprised to see the teen still in yesterdays clothes, looking like he hadn't slept. "Breakfast is ready."

"I'm not hungry," Jake replied defiantly.

"I highly doubt that." Allen wasn't phased. "Breakfast. And then a shower."

"Ugh," Jake groaned, rolling his eyes as he sluggishly got off the bed and left the bedroom.

At the table, Jake slowly ate his food, trying his best to make it look like each bite was torture. Nobody seemed to care. So much for getting dismissed from the table.

"Jake, you will have to come with us to the hospital today while Cadence receives her treatment," Judy said near the end of the meal.

Jake blinked. "Treatment?" Inwardly, he cursed. Why did it matter what was wrong with someone he didn't even want to get to know? "Stupid curiosity," he thought.

"Yes. She has Leukemia." Judy said the word as if she'd said it a million times. She probably had.

Jake's eyes widened, but he didn't say anything. He wanted to cringe. He had behaved like a complete brat yesterday when this family clearly had bigger things to worry about.

* * *

A few days passed, and Chance needed something to take his mind off this thing with Jake. So he called Callie. As it happened, she was free, so he invited her out for a movie. It was a comedy, and a pretty good one for once, but Chance found himself listening more to Callie laugh than the actual dialogue in the film. The sound made him feel all twisted inside... in a good way.

"We should do this more often," Chance said as they walked back to the car.

"Yeah." Callie smiled brightly. "We should. I had fun tonight."

"You _had _fun? The night's not over yet." Chance grinned. "You wanna grab some drinks?"

"I'd love to! Let's go to my apartment first. We can walk to downtown from there, and that way we don't have to worry about driving." Callie suggested.

Four hours later, the pair only slightly stumbled back into the building's lobby and into the elevator. Callie giggled as she mashed the button for her floor and then was caught off guard as Chance pinned her thin frame against the wall. A deep purr rose out of his throat as he pressed his mouth to hers. She gasped and arched into him, moaning when his paw slid up her skirt and between her legs. Just as his claw sliced through the crotch of her lacy undergarment, the doors slid open. Chance, even slightly tipsy, easily picked her up, wrapping her legs around his waist, and carried her to her door. "Where's your key?" He breathed, pressing her against the entrance and grinding into her.

"Mmmm ooh, in..." Callie panted. "In my purse." She struggled to get them and hand them over, shaking with anticipation. Soon the door opened behind her. It shut with a quiet 'thud'. Then, only moments later, her back was once again against the wall, and his fingers working her.

"Oooooh," she moaned, trying to get to the zipper on his jeans. Callie whimpered with need.

In what seemed like one swift motion, Chance undid his pants and slid inside her. "Is this what you want?" He thrust forcefully.

"Ahh, mmm... mmmhmm..." Callie was suddenly incapable of articulating actual words. He was hitting just the right spot, in just the right way.

Chance's fur bristled. She was right there. He could smell it. She was incredibly wet, and he could feel her starting to clench up. Then she let out a ragged moan, sinking her claws into his shoulders. Chance grunted and came hard.

"Let's..." Callie panted. "Take this... to the bedroom... and then maybe the shower."

Chance grinned. "Sounds good to me."

Several hours later, Chance woke up with the deputy mayor's body still on top of him, her head on his chest, and her legs straddling him. His body started to respond to her proximity and her scent. She pressed into him and chuckled tiredly. "Don't you ever get tired?" She purred, grinding into him without mounting him.

"Do you really want me to answer that?" Chance shifted so that he was pressing more firmly against her sex. "Come stay with me."

"What?" Callie blinked up at him, ceasing her movement.

"Jake's gone for another three weeks. I hate being in that place without anyone to talk to." Chance pouted. "It doesn't have to be all the time; even if it's just the weekends."

Callie blushed, thinking immediately of weekends filled with this sort of behavior. It made her nether regions twitch and dampen. "I think you know the answer," she purred, sliding onto him.

* * *

"Mama!" Tommy shouted, slamming the French door shut as he came in from the backyard.

Judy looked up from her lessons with Cadence. "Don't shout, son."

"Sorry," he pouted.

"What's wrong?" Judy blinked at him.

He huffed. "The ladder to my tree house broke."

"Well I guess you will have to find something else to do until your father can fix it." Judy replied. "Why don't you get a book and read?"

"I don't want to read." Tommy sulked. "Can I watch TV?"

Judy frowned. "Not right now. Go find something else to do."

"Fiiiiiiiine," the kitten whined and left the den. Hearing music, he followed the sound into the living room. Jake was working on a piece for school, one that had been handed out the first day, prior to his suspension. He didn't even notice when Tommy climbed onto the bench beside him.

"Why don't you play something cooler?"

Startled, Jake pressed two of the wrong keys and then glared at the kitten. "I'm not taking requests, kid," he mumbled.

"Noooo," Tommy dramatically rolled his eyes the way Jake had been doing the whole time he'd been there. "The piano is boring. They play it at church. What about the guitar? Cady can play the guitar."

Jake's brow furrowed. "I thought loud music wasn't allowed. I highly doubt Mozart sounds any cooler on a six string."

Tommy giggled. "She doesn't play that stuff! She plays good stuff! Like Johnny Cash and Green Day."

"She can play that, but I can't listen to Kannibal Kats?" Jake stared at Tommy in disbelief.

"Sure you can." Tommy gave him a funny look.

"Your mom specifically said 'no loud music.'" Jake repeated.

"Duh," Tommy laughed. "She can't hear the news if it's loud. You can listen to whatever you want as long as you don't blare it."

Jake's jaw hung open. "Oh," he said finally. After a moment of silence, Tommy remained sitting beside him. "Don't you have something better to do?"

"My tree house is broken." Tommy said. "So no."

"If I fix your tree house, will you leave me alone?"

"You can't fix my tree house." Tommy laughed.

"Why not?" Jake wondered if this was another rule.

"Have you ever even _built_ a tree house?" Tommy huffed.

"Nope," Jake replied.

"Then what do you know about fixing one?"

"I can fix anything." Jake said with a bit of pride.

"Sure ya can." Tommy laughed.

"Ok," Jake frowned. He couldn't believe this kitten! "How about if I fix your tree house, then you get Cadence to teach me to play the guitar."

"And if you don't or if you break it even more?" Tommy glared.

"Whatever you want." Jake shrugged.

Tommy narrowed his eyes, then grinned. "Come on! I'll show you where Daddy's tools are."

An hour later...

Judy heard a shriek of laughter from outside and set down her book. Cadence, who had been watching television shot her a curious look. "Was that Tommy?"

"I believe so." Judy stood up and went to the door. Cadence followed.

"Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee eee!" Tommy squealed as Jake gave his newly hung tire swing a forceful shove. "Mommmyyy loooook!" He laughed loudly as he swung back and forth, swiveling a bit. "Jake fixed my ladder! And he hung the tire swing!"

"I see that." Judy looked concerned as she walked across the back yard. She came to a stop by the swing and grabbed it as it slowed, halting it. She gave her son a patient smile and looked up at the rope. After giving it a couple of tugs, she looked at Jake. "You did a pretty good job, Jake."

Having expected to be reprimanded, Jake blushed and scratched the back of his head. "Er... thanks."

"Now you have to teach him to play the guitar, Cady!" Tommy stuck his tongue out at his big sister.

"What?" Cadence balked at her brother and that boy they'd taken in.

"Yep! Cuz a deal's a deal!" Tommy grinned and launched himself off his swing to climb up into his tree house.

Cadence gave Jake a repulsive look. "You used me as a bargaining chip?" Her pale cheeks grew red as embers. "You have some nerve!"

"It's not that big of a deal." Jake crossed his arms over his chest. "I could probably teach myself to do it better than you could, anyway." He said smugly.

"Right, because you're so good at _everything_." Cadence replied, sarcastically.

"Actually, yeah, I am." Jake rebuked in the same tone.

"Kids, that is enough!" Judy cut through. "Tommy! You cannot barter with your sister's talents without her permission. Cadence, why don't you let Jake use your guitar? Maybe he _can_ teach himself."

"Okay." Cadence glared. "Just don't break it."

"I bet he could fix it!" shouted Tommy from his tree house.

* * *

Cadence managed to make it through two hours of hearing Jake torment her guitar with his attempt to learn by watching videos on his computer. "That's it!" She slid off her bed and marched down the hall to his room.

Jake was startled at how his door flew open. He gave Cadence a frantic stare.

"You," she hissed. "Are doing this _all wrong_." Cadence held out her paws for her guitar. "Give that to me."

"But I almost got it," Jake defied her.

"No," she shook her head. "You don't. You're not even close."

"Just give me another hour." Jake pleaded.

Cadence closed her eyes and let out a long sigh. "Then let me teach you a few basic chords, for my own sanity."

Jake moved to give her room. Inside, he was grinning triumphantly.

* * *

Jake's suspension passed quickly, and he returned to school feeling far more subdued than he had when the new semester started. TL and LaCroix looked as if they wanted to speak to Jake when they saw him, but Fritz was with them. They resorted to only quick eye contact before looking away. Jake shrugged and walked on. He stopped at his locker to lighten his load. English alone was enough to give him a hernia.

"Where've you been hiding?"

Jake rolled his eyes. "I was suspended for two weeks, Miranda."

"I know that," she shook her head. "But you weren't at home."

One of Jake's eyebrows inched upwards. "And how would you know that?"

"Oh please, Jake." Miranda rolled her eyes and sighed. "As if you don't already know."

"Right." Jake shook his head. "Well Fritz' parents filed assault charges. So social services temporarily placed me in another home."

"That's horrible!" Miranda gasped. "Can they do that?"

"Yep." He exhaled loudly. "And my new temporary parents are the strictest, cleanest, most annoyingly perfect cookie-cutter kats I've ever met."

"Do they have kittens?" Miranda asked, walking beside Jake as he started in the direction of Mr. Lyon's class.

"Yep. A six year old boy, and a sixteen year old girl." Jake replied.

"Is she pretty?" Miranda asked.

"She has Leukemia," Jake replied.

"Oooh," Miranda winced. "So if you end up falling for her, she's probably going to die anyway."

Jake's jaw dropped. "I can't believe you just said that!"

"Jealousy is a cruel mistress," Miranda shrugged.

"For the daughter of a psychiatrist, you really have some serious issues. You know that?" Jake shook his head.

"What can I say?" Miranda smirked. "They broke the mold."

* * *

"How nice of you to make an appearance, Jacob." Mr. Lyon sneered at the boy.

Jake ignored the jab and slid into his seat.

"You have several tests to make up by the end of this week." The teacher continued. "I certainly hope you're prepared."

Jake frowned. "But I wasn't even here for the lessons."

"That is not my concern," Mr. Lyon replied, and started the day's lesson.

Jake felt completely lost as the class picked up on a discussion about Mark Twain that had begun at the end of last week.

Miss Shen wasn't as unforgiving over the missed class time. She suggested Jake complete the lessons a little at a time, along with his homework each night. "You should be caught up by the end of next week, just in time for the test," she said with a smile.

While Mrs. Tomlin was nice, unfortunately, she didn't offer Jake the opportunity to make up his missed assignments. "I'm sorry, Jake, but suspension isn't an excused absence, and only excused absentees are allowed to make up work. You will just have to work harder to make sure your grades for the remainder of the semester are enough to pull your grade back up. As smart as you are, and with this half only just underway, I'm sure you will catch up in no time."

Jake frowned. "Great," he thought. "Just what I need; double homework." He let out a long, suffering sigh as he headed to lunch. His gaze drifted around the cafeteria, settling on familiar faces. Becky was sitting by herself, clutching a bottle of juice, and looking as miserable as ever. Jake frowned. There were several of her friends who shared her lunch, but they were all at another table, laughing and carrying on as if they didn't know she existed. He felt a pang of guilt and walked over to her table. Using his foot to slid a chair out, Jake dropped heavily into the hard plastic seat and folded his arms on the table in front of him. "Shouldn't you be eating?" He asked the forlorn looking cheerleader across from him.

She looked up with watery blue eyes and shook her head. "I'm not hungry," Becky replied softly, looking back down.

"I thought pregnant kats were always hungry," Jake said in a similar tone.

Becky looked back up, her bottom lip quivering. She inhaled sharply and looked away, blinking furiously to stem the onslaught of tears threatening to spill down her cheeks. "Why are you even talking to me?" Her voice shook.

Jake was silent for a moment, chewing on his bottom lip as he tried to think of an answer. Why _was_ he talking to her? He let out a breath. "Look, Becky, I'm pissed off that you cheated on me, but," he shook his head. "I saw you sitting here, by yourself, looking so... despondent. I guess I just kind of felt like an ass. So, I'm sorry."

Becky snorted. "_You're_ sorry?" She sniffed loudly. "Everyone thinks I'm a bitch for what I did. None of my friends will talk to me. I heard Jessica whispering to someone that I was a slut. As if any of them have room to talk."

"You're not a slut." Jake said.

"Oh please." Becky huffed, wiping her eyes. "Don't pretend like that isn't what you think about me."

"I don't hate you, Becky." Jake reached across the table and took one of her paws. "Please don't cry."

Becky shook her head, doing her best to stifle her whimpers. "F.. Fritz wo-won't even return my calls. He doesn't care at all. A-and my gran won't hardly speak to me. I just wanted to be like my friends. They're all doing it with their boyfriends, and they treat me like I'm just a little kitten. And now..." She trailed off, burying her head in her arms to cry.

Jake looked over at the table where Becky's 'friends' sat and found them staring in his direction. He shot them a hateful look before getting up from his seat and walking around the table to Becky. Gently, he pulled on her arm. "Come on," he said. "Let's go." Jake put his arm around her and escorted her out of the lunch room. "You don't need friends like that. If the minute something scandalous happens, they start spreading rumors and talking about you behind your back, then you don't need them." He pulled his phone from his pocket to check the time and shook his head. "I beat the shit out of Fritz once," he said, tilting her head up. "I can do it again if I need to."

That got a laugh, albeit small. "No," Becky took a deep breath, trying to regain her composure. "You could get expelled."

"It's not right," Jake said. "This is his problem too. He can't just dump it all on you and pretend it isn't happening." The bell rang, alerting students that lunch was now over, and they needed to get to back to class.

"You better go," Becky pulled away from him.

Jake nodded his head. "Yeah." He took a few steps back before turning around.

"Jake," she called after him. When he turned, she offered a weak smile. "Thanks."  
He shrugged and they went their separate ways.

* * *

As Jake made his way to the fine arts wing, he spotted Fritz, laughing with TL in the hallway, acting like he didn't have a care in the world. Sucking in a deep breath, Jake made a decision that he hoped wouldn't get him in any more trouble.

When Fritz spotted Jake walking towards him, he rolled his eyes. "You gonna take another swing at me, Furlong? You must be ready to switch to a new school or something."

Sensing another fight, the nearby students stopped what they were doing to turn and watch the events unfold.

"You're a real ass, you know that. Fritz?" Jake shook his head. "Do you even plan on taking any kind of responsibility for what you did?"

"Hey!" Fritz poked Jake in the chest. "I'm done with the little tramp. I got nothing more to do with her."

"Oh so you're just going to leave her with your baby? You're tom enough to fuck her, but you don't have the balls to own up to your mistakes and handle it the right way?" Jake made a disgusted sound.

"It's not like she has to have the baby." Fritz rolled his eyes. "Nobody's making her keep it, and I offered to help pay for the operation. She's the one making it a big deal." Fritz scoffed.

Jake's eyes widened. "You'd do that? You'd kill your own kitten?" He felt sick at the thought.

That drew some disgusted sounds and gasps from the watching students.

"Whatever, kat." Fritz huffed. "If you care so much, _you_ deal with it. I've got more important stuff to worry about." He shoved passed Jake.

"Yeah that's real fair!" Jake shouted after him. "Ruin her life and then keep on living yours like nothing's changed!" He clenched his fists tightly. "Asshole," he hissed.

"Dude, why do you even care?" Jason seemed to materialize next to Jake. "Your girlfriend cheated on you with him. They're getting what they deserve."

"It seems horribly unfair, doesn't it? I mean, at this point, they need to be thinking about something other than themselves." Jake huffed.

"_You_ would be thinking about the right things, because you're you. Jake Clawson-Furlong goodie two-shoes, always does what's right." Jason snorted. "But Fritz and Becky? Mr and Mrs Popularity? Fritz is looking at a scholarship when he gets to varsity. Everyone knows it. A baby will distract him from football."

Jake felt defeated. "What am I supposed to do? Sit back and watch him pretty much destroy her? It's like he doesn't even care!"

Jason shrugged. "Dude, he probably _doesn't_ care. He's a stupid, self-centered jock. That's what I've been trying to tell you from the beginning. You can't trust kats like him."

Jake sighed. "I guess you're right." He shook his head. "Maybe I shouldn't care either. What good is it doing? It got me suspended from school and put in a foster home for the next month. I'm behind on my classes, with very little hope of actually getting caught up. And the worst part is that I actually enjoyed playing football, and now I feel like I can't, because I can't deal with Fritz." Jake exhaled loudly. "This is all such bullshit."

"You know, I can take care of all this stress for you." Jason smirked, giving his friend a sly look.

Jake rolled his eyes. "You know I can't. I'm in enough trouble."

"Suit yourself." Jason shrugged. "If you change your mind, you know where to find me."

Jake shook his head. "I gotta go. See you later." As he headed to his last class, he could only hope that Chance was having a better time of this than he was.

_**You know the drill: read, review, wait for the next chapter.**_

_**-NK- **_


	17. Chapter 17

"Rebel soouuls, deserters we've been called." Jake sang in an exaggerated bass tone. "Chose a gu-un, and threw away the su-u-un."

Judy peeked her head into the family room, seeing her daughter sitting on the piano bench, looking pleased and impressed. "He's gotten quite good at that," she said, making her presence known.

"His singing could use some work," Cadence quipped with a smirk.

"Hey, you just said I was pretty good." Jake pouted.

"It was a confidence boost." Cadence teased. "You really are a fast learner."

"I told you," Jake scoffed.

"It's time for dinner." Judy smiled patiently. It was nearing the end of Jake's time with them. Only one more week left.

Jake gently laid the guitar in its case and went to go wash his paws. As he took his place at the table, he bit his lip, anxious to ask Cadence what he'd been wanting for two days now. Allen said grace, and everyone started filling their plates. It was now or never. Jake cleared his throat. "So, um, I have a pretty big recital coming up, and I've got this solo I've been working on."

"Oh I've heard you practicing, Jake, and it sounds quite lovely." Judy beamed at the boy.

Jake blushed. "Er, thanks. The thing is, I'd kind of like to make it more of a duet." He bit his lip, exposing his top row of braces. "That is, if Cadence wouldn't mind."

Cadence's eyes widened.

Allen frowned. "Oh I don't know about that, Jake."

"Daddy, could I?" Cadence was beaming with excitement. "It must be so thrilling to play for an audience."

Allen looked anxiously at Judy. "What do you think, honey?"

Judy offered a modest smile. "Well, who knows when she might get an opportunity like this again? I don't see why not, just as long as nothing comes up." There was an almost simultaneous cringe between the two teenagers. That meant "as long as Cadence doesn't get sick."

"When is it?" Cadence asked, suddenly somber.

"At the end of February." Jake replied.

"I have an appointment in two," Cadence said. "Is that enough time to back out if I need to?"

Jake nodded his head. "Yeah." He hoped it wasn't. Cadence repeatedly asked him about high school, what it was like. He was positive she'd enjoy the opportunity to feel like she was a part of something.

"We'll see," Judy said with a sympathetic smile. She knew how much her daughter longed for friends and a normal life, but she wasn't normal.

* * *

Chance pounded his fist on the kerosene heater in the shop. The flame kept going out, and it was freezing in the garage. He rubbed his paws together and cupped them around his mouth, blowing into them. If it were to start raining, Chance was sure it would come down in balls of ice instead of sleet or snow. Forcing himself to focus, he turned his attention back to the piece of junk he towed in that morning.

Just as the burly tom slid back underneath the car, he felt a rumble beneath him. "What the...?" The ground quaked again as Chance ran to the open bay door and looked out. "Holy mother of.." He trailed off as he gaped up at the giant mech of some sort. "That thing's headin' straight for the shop!" Chance back peddled. "CHARLIE!" He shouted for Jake's dog. Immediately, she came darting in, turning back to bark at the massive robot stomping towards their home. "Come on!" Chance shouted again as he ran towards the office and pulled back the shelf that hid their secret. The black dog followed him down into the hangar.

"What the hell?" Chance snarled, hearing destruction above him as he changed into his flight suit and tied on his mask. "Did we overcharge someone?" He asked out loud. "Why in God's name would someone attack a salvage yard?" T-Bone darted over to the Turbokat as it rose up on its platform. As he launched out of the hangar and prepared to take a shot at the hunk of metal destroying their home, he growled. "This looks like another Pumadyne special." T-Bone winced. "Son of a BITCH! Pumadyne!" As he said it, a familiar voice boomed from the robot.

"You're going to be sorry, Clawson! I'm going to destroy everything you have! And then I'm going to destroy you!"

"Felino!" T-Bone shouted. "Doesn't anybody stay in prison anymore?" He launched a pair of megavolt missiles. They didn't even slow it down. "Argh! He isn't even here!" T-Bone growled. "Damn it!" He could only watch as the garage and their home was leveled. And then, Dr. Felino and his giant robot turned and headed for the city. "He can't possibly know that Jake wasn't at home," T-Bone hissed as he pulled the jet up and followed Felino.

* * *

Jake sat on the floor with his laptop on the coffee table and his literature book in his lap. He was working on both missed assignments and that day's homework, and he was beginning to get overwhelmed. He leaned back against the couch behind him and pressed his fingers into his temples and closed his eyes. After a few moments of trying to will the headache he had to just go away, Jake decided to take a more proactive approach. He got up and went to the kitchen for a glass of water. After filling the glass from the tap, he went to grab a couple aspirin. Jake returned and reached for the glass, but paused and narrowed his eyes at the water. It rippled, like a pond when a stone is tossed in. Perplexed, Jake continued to stare at the water. Then he felt a corresponding vibration at his feet.

"Mommy!" Tommy shouted, running down the stairs. "There's a giant robot outside!"

"A giant robot?" Judy asked with a chuckle.

This time, the shaking was more noticeable. Jake's eyes widened and he ran to the window. "Oh my God," he breathed before running back into the living room. "Judy! We need to get out, now!"

At this point, Judy was well aware of the shaking. "Cadence," she gasped. Cadence hadn't been feeling well and was upstairs in bed.

"I got it! Just get out of here!" Jake shouted as he ran upstairs. "Cady!"

"What's going on?" Cadence was in her pajamas and leaning against the door frame.

"Some nutso is attacking the city." Jake took her arm. "We need to go."

Cadence turned and looked towards the window in her room. She gasped when she saw how close the robot was. "I don't think we have time!"

Jake sucked in a breath and grabbed her, pulling her as they ran down the stairs. Just as they reached the landing, the giant metal beast crashed into the back of the house. Cadence stumbled and crashed to the floor. "Get up!" Jake shouted at her.

"I can't! I'm scared, Jake!" Cadence sobbed.

"We don't have time for this!" Jake pulled her up and, with a grunt, threw her over his shoulder in a fireman's carry. He ran out of the house as it all came crashing down. Judy had the good sense to get in the car and back out of the driveway. Jake sat Cadence on her feet. "Go!" He pushed her to the car.

Cadence got in the car. "Come on!" She shouted at him.

Jake turned to face the robot and found one of its large guns leveled at him. "It's after me." He turned back to the car. "What are you waiting for? Go!"

"We aren't leaving without you!" Judy shouted at him.

"It wants me! If I go with you, it's going to kill you! Go!" Jake shouted at her. "I'll be fine. I used to be an Enforcer, remember?"

Judy sucked in a sharp breath. "Jake..."

"Worry about your kids! Go!" Jake pleaded.

Judy's lip trembled. "Be careful," she whispered while she put the car in drive.

Jake heard the Turbokat in the sky. "I'll be fine."

T-Bone immediately spotted Jake. "God I hope I don't fuck us over," he said as he pressed the button to release the Cyclotron. Jake not only didn't have a helmet, but he didn't have his mask. "I have to protect him," he rationalized.

Jake wasn't expecting the Cyclotron, but when T-Bone came in low and dropped it off, he immediately mounted it. "Why the hell is this thing after me?" He asked aloud and then realized that, without his helmet, he had no communication with T-Bone. "Let's just hope he can follow my lead. I need to get this thing out of the city." Jake revved the motorcycle and spun it around, heading towards the highway. To his relief, the Turbokat soared above him.

"You ruined me, Clawson!" Dr. Felino's voice bellowed from the robot. "You ruined me and now I'm going to take you out for good!"

Jake swerved as bullets from the machine's Gatling guns impounded the asphalt around him. "Shit!" He swore loudly. "Can't I catch a break?" Gritting his teeth, Jake lowered his body closer to the bike as he picked up speed. Behind him, he heard explosions as T-Bone did his best to take out Felino's insidious creation.

Traveling in excess of 150 miles per hour, it didn't take the teen long to exit the city limits and reach the bare expanses of the deserted badlands. He kicked up a cloud of dust as he spun to face the robot. "Alright. It has to have a weak point. But where?" Jake didn't have much time for examination because the angry scientist was baring down on him. Sucking in a breath, he drove towards the machine. In a desperate act, he fired a bolo missile, hoping to entangle its legs. He couldn't help but smirk when it worked. "Like a real life Gulliver," he said as the robot fell. Jake hit the brakes, skidding to a halt. He threw out a leg to steady himself. Shouldn't he be getting back up? Licking his lips, Jake put the bike back in gear and drove around to the robot's head. There was a latch on the side. Just as he was climbing up and reaching to open it, T-Bone set the Turbokat down nearby.

"Jake, wait!" T-Bone shouted, running towards the teen. He was completely unarmed. "What if it's a trap?"

Jake ignored him and pulled open the hatch. Peering inside, he saw Dr. Felino lying against the control panel in a pool of blood. "I don't think he survived the crash, T-Bone," he said before dropping into the cockpit area. He crept towards the doctor's body and reached a paw towards him. In a surprise move, Dr. Felino grabbed hold of Jake, twisted his arm behind him and pressed a pistol against his neck.

"You ruined me," the scientist hissed. "You were supposed to die! You were supposed to die like the rest of them! Like your stupid father. And that Enforcer they put you with! Oh yeah, he's dead you know. I killed him. I crushed him in that _dump_ you call a home. You have _nothing_! And now I'm going to kill you too."

"Not today you aren't." Jake drove his elbow into Felino's gut and grabbed his wrist, twisting it trying to get rid of the gun.

T-Bone went after Jake and started to climb into the robot when he heard the struggle inside. He aimed his glovatrix into the hatch but didn't have a clear shot. Sunlight coming through reflected off the steel weapon. "Crud," Chance hissed and dropped in, grabbing Felino from behind.

Jake managed to get his finger on the trigger and turn the gun to face Felino. "Back off," he warned.

"I won't go down without taking you with me," Felino growled, managing to grip his paw around Jake's. He struggled to push the gun back the other way.

Jake's world slowed down as his finger pressed harder on the trigger, his heart stopping when he felt that resistance before firing. His ears rang and he felt numb.

T-Bone froze when the gun went off. He just knew Jake had been shot. Feeling Felino's weight drop, he dropped as well. But as he sank to the floor, he realized that the kid was still standing, and he was the one holding the gun. T-Bone looked down, finding a gaping hole in Felino's chest. Trembling with relief, T-Bone slid Felino off of him and got to his feet. "Jake.."

"I..." Jake looked at the gun in his hand. "I killed him." His knees buckled and he would have crashed to the corrugated steel floor had it not been for the large arms that caught him. "I killed him," he repeated.

"We don't have time for this, kid." T-Bone growled. He could hear Enforcer sirens in the distance as he scooped Jake up and darted for the Turbokat. He let out a loud sigh once they were airborne. "We can't go home. What do we do?" There was only one person in the city that he knew for a fact would offer asylum to a Swat Kat.

* * *

Callie watched from City Hall as Enforcers let the city in a hurry. She only caught a glimpse of the robot before it turned tail and left. Even Kats Eye News seemed a little behind on the latest threat. She shook her head, settling for catching up on the evening news, and sat back down to finish the mayor's speech. It wasn't much longer before she heard her secretary shouting outside.

"You can't go in there!"

"Watch me!" A familiar voice snarled before her doors swung open and T-Bone stormed in, dragging a familiar teenager behind him. They were both bloody.

"Jake?" Callie was shocked to see the teen with the Swat Kat. "What's going on?" She directed the question at T-Bone, who had just locked her doors.

"Callie, I've... _we've_ got a huge problem." T-Bone looked almost panicked. "That thing leveled my home looking for Jake."

"Why would it go after you?" Callie asked. "And where is Razor?"

T-Bone breathed heavily through his nose. He hoped he wouldn't have to explain things. Surely the deputy mayor wasn't too dense to figure it out.

"Callie," T-Bone lowered his voice. "Please..."

"T-Bone!" Jake suddenly realized what was happening. "What are you doing?"

"I don't have a choice, Jake." T-Bone sighed. "Felino destroyed our home! If I don't tell Callie, there's a good chance a lot more kats will find out. This way, we tell one kat we can trust who can help us and we don't have to worry about our identities."

Callie stood by in shock. "Wait," she interrupted. "_Chance?_"

"No," Jake said a little too quickly. "This isn't Chance. He's just..."

T-Bone removed his helmet and mask. "Yeah. It's me."

"Great." Jake huffed. "Thanks a lot, Chance. Just go ahead and throw away all that we've worked so hard on." He started to drag his paw down his face when he saw Felino's blood.

"So this means that Jake is Razor?" Callie was stunned. "But..." She shook her head. "Chance, he's just a kitten."

"Yeah." Chance lowered his voice and put back on his mask. "A kitten that just killed someone," his tone was hushed. "Look Callie, we can talk about this later. Right now, we have a huge problem. Felino leveled the garage trying to kill me before going after Jake. The hangar is right underneath it. We need to make sure it stays hidden."

Callie nodded her head. "I'll see what I can do. In the meantime, where are you going to stay?"

"We can go to my mom's. We have clothes and stuff there." T-Bone sighed. "And there's another family that's kind of in need. The kats Jake was placed with, their home was destroyed when Felino went after him. They have a daughter with Leukemia."

"Okay," Callie sighed. "Anything else?"

"That's it for right now. We need to get out of here." T-Bone reached his paw out to take Jake's arm and lead him back out of the office. Jake jerked away, giving his guardian a hateful look. How could he just spill their secret like that?

* * *

Jake was intensely silent all the way home. When they got to the hangar, he jumped out of the Turbokat and went up the stairs. The door wouldn't budge. Feeling defeated, he slid down until he was sitting on the cold concrete with his back to the door. Charlie, sensing her master's unease, timidly licked his paw. Instead of shooing her away, Jake pulled the dog into his lap and wrapped his arms around her. He wanted to cry. He felt like Chance had just betrayed him. Sure they'd discussed the potential of having to tell someone some day, someone other than Rita. And, yeah, he knew they could trust Callie. But Chance didn't even ask him first. He just did it.

Jake was startled by a small vibration in his pocket. His cell phone. With a disheartened sigh, he pulled it from his pants pocket and stared at the screen. It was Judy calling. "Hello," he answered in a soft, emotionless tone.

"Jake?! My God, are you okay?" Judy sounded relieved.

"Yeah," Jake replied. "The, uh...the Swat Kats, they picked me up."

"Where are you? Do you need a ride?" She asked.

"I'm... yeah. I do." Jake told her where she could find him.

"Where are you going?" Chance asked when he saw Jake climbing the ladder to the emergency exit they'd made.

"Judy is coming to get me." Jake replied in a strained voice.

"Jake, with all this, I don't think you will be in any trouble if you don't go back there. You only have a few more days anyway." Chance figured Jake was in shock.

"Who said I was going because I _had_ to?" Jake hissed.

Chance followed him outside. "So what? You're just going to leave me with this?"

"Well I figure if you can go spilling our secret without talking it over with me first, then you can handle this just fine." Jake snapped.

"Jake, I did it to protect us! Callie isn't going to tell anyone. You know that!" Chance argued.

Jake ignored Chance as he sat Charlie down on the ground and walked towards what used to be their home. The SUV was parked out front and somehow missed being destroyed. Jake looked at the pile of rubble he had called home and felt sick. He shook his head and started to climb up it, looking for what had once been his room. His mother's things. He needed them. The things his grandfather had given him. Her pictures. He felt heartache beyond heartache as he dug through wood and brick and drywall, cutting his paws on the rough edges.

"Jake!" Chance climbed up after him. "This isn't safe. It could collapse at any moment!" He urged the teen to leave. When Jake didn't, Chance grabbed his arm.

"No!" Jake shouted at him. "Leave me alone, Chance!" He shoved the tabby away and dropped to his knees, forcefully tossing away debris.

"Fine! If you want to be like that," Chance growled and wrapped his arms around Jake's midsection, physically carrying him back down. "You need to calm down."

"Calm down?! Chance! My mother's things are in there! My whole life is in there!" Jake screamed at him.

"Yeah. I know! Mine is too!" Chance shouted back. "But freaking out over it isn't going to fix it, now is it? You wanna take off and not deal with this, fine! Go! Think about yourself like usual!"

"Oh, like how you just told Callie everything without thinking about me?" Jake snapped back.

"You know damn well that isn't true! You, on the other paw, are going to run off to to be with another family who has to deal with their own loss in all of this. Don't you think they might need to pull themselves together? Don't you think I need you here so _we_ can pull ourselves together?" Chance put his ever-steady paws on Jake's shoulders. "I need you here, Jake."

"I can't deal with this, Chance," Jake replied in a harsh whisper.

"Jake..."

Jake pushed him away again and walked off just as Judy was pulling into the salvage yard.

"My God!" Judy held her paw over her mouth in shock as she got out of the car. "Are you guys alright?"

"It's..." Chance was about to say 'not as bad as it looks' but even he couldn't manage that bad of a lie. "We'll get through this. Do you guys have somewhere to stay?"

"Yes. We do." Judy smiled grimly.

Chance sighed. "Look, I know Jake told you he needed a ride, but he's kind of in a bad place after all this. I'd like to keep him with me."

Judy looked embarrassed. "I was hoping you would say that. We've got some sorting out to do."

"No kidding," Chance offered a weak smile. "We'll be in touch. If you guys need anything, any kind of help, call."

"I might have to take you up on that." Judy said before leaving.

Chance turned back around to face Jake. He found the boy sitting on the tailgate of the tow truck. He heaved a sigh. "You wanna give me a paw?"

Jake gave him a hateful look before sliding off the back of the truck. He followed Chance back down into the hangar.

"We're going to weld that door shut from the inside. Hopefully that will keep anyone from finding this." Chance said as he started to pull out the welding equipment.

Jake shook his head. He wanted to just take a shower, go to sleep, and then wake up from the horrible dream that this was becoming.

* * *

Callie pulled into the salvage yard and couldn't believe the destruction she saw. She pulled out her phone and dialed Chance's number. "I'm out front," she said when he answered. Callie got out of her car and walked towards what used to be the garage with a small home upstairs. Charlie came running out of the junkyard, happy to see her as always. Callie crouched down to pet the dog. She was scratching her belly when she heard approaching footsteps. She stood back up and fixed Chance with an icy glare.

"What?" He asked, sounding tired.

"Where you ever going to tell me?" Callie asked.

"Well, I was hoping to one day. But it wasn't just my secret, and right now, Jake's so pissed off at me, he won't even speak to me." Chance sighed. "So if you want to make a big deal out of it, can it wait until later?"

Callie sucked in one of her cheeks and then sighed. "What can I do to help?"

"The building came crashing down and blocked the trap door. We welded it shut from inside the hangar. We need to empty the hangar before any rebuilding is done to prevent construction crews from discovering us." Chance dragged a paw through his dirty hair.

"I will see if I can find a place for all your equipment. In the meantime, is there anything I can help you with right now?" Callie's eyes wandered back to the mountain of rubble.

Chance sighed. "I think I'm going to take Jake to my mom's, then I'm going to come back and try to find some important things that got buried. I need to get him away from this. It's going to be all over the news that Felino was killed, and he's going to have a hard time dealing with it. My mom will be better at helping him get through this than I will."

"Jake really killed him?" Callie was in disbelief.

"Yeah. He didn't mean to. He was trying to keep himself from being killed; they were struggling over the gun and it went off." Chance looked tired. "I think he hates me for telling you."

"Would it do any good if I promised to him that I will keep your secret?" Callie asked.

"Right now?" Chance made a face. "I don't think anything will make him feel better about it."


	18. Chapter 18

_**Really struggled to get this chapter done. I feel like this was sort of a lull in the story, but I had to sludge through it and get it out to get to the next**_** part.**

It was very early in the morning when Rita heard the front door open. She got out of bed and put on her robe before going downstairs. The kitchen light was on, and she heard water running. Her brow furrowed as she ventured further. "Chance," she huffed out in relief. "You scared the living daylights out of me."

"Sorry," Chance replied, tiredly. He was filling the reservoir for the coffee pot. His face was smeared with dirt and his clothes were ripped and stained.

"What on earth have you been doing?" Rita pulled two cups from the cupboard and set them beside the pot.

Chance nodded his head at the table, where a dented, beat up metal lock box now rested. "Jake keeps all the stuff that belonged to his mom in there. I had to find it for him. It's the least I could do after how mad he is over me telling Callie."

Rita let out a long sigh and leaned against the counter. "He isn't _that_ upset over it. Jake was just trying to hold it together until you weren't around."

"Yeah, well..." Chance trailed off. "Where do we go from here? The news is reporting that the Swat Kats killed Felino. Feral's out for blood."

"I don't know if he will be up to it, but if he told the commander what happened, maybe it would take the heat off the Swat Kats," Rita suggested.

"No." Chance shook his head. "I dropped the Cyclotron for Jake. If there were any witnesses, they would have seen _him_ riding it and not Razor. Plus, he's the one who shot that kat, Ma. Regardless of how it happened, there's a real possibility of some serious legal ramifications. I'm not putting him through that." His shoulders sagged. "I guess we're just going to play this by ear." A floorboard creaking caught their attention.

Jake froze in the doorway. He was visibly trembling despite his flannel pajama pants and fleece pullover.

"Hey kiddo." Chance poured a cup of coffee and sat down. "Got something for you."

"Jake, baby, are you okay?" Rita asked after filling her own cup.

Jake gave a jerky nod. "Yeah. Just... just had kind of a bad dream." He eyed her coffee. "Can I...?"

"Oh sure. You know you don't have to ask." Rita offered a warm smile. "There's cream in the fridge and you know where the sugar is."

Jake filled a cup three quarters full of coffee, then topped it off with cream and sugar. He sat down opposite of Chance, eying the dented, dirty metal box.

Chance slid it across the table to the teen.

"Thanks," Jake said softly, in a broken voice. He held the cup between his paws, hoping to suck the warmth from it into his body. "So... what do we do now?"

"We find a place to set up temporarily and then we rebuild," Chance replied matter-of-fact.

"Chance, you can't be serious!" Rita cried. "Commander Feral is calling the Swat Kats 'murderers'. If you go back out there, he's going to kill you!"

"Callie will help with that. We'll find a way to prove that it wasn't murder. And we can't back out now. The city depends on us." Chance sighed.

"What about Cadence?" Jake asked.

"Cadence?" Chance asked.

"And her family. They lost their home too." Jake looked up. "I owe it to them to help."

"Okay," Chance nodded his head. "I'll talk to Allen. We'll figure something out. In the meantime, you have school supplies that need to be replaced. And we both pretty much lost all our clothes. We have a lot of starting over to do. Insurance will pay for it, but not right away."

"Take whatever you need, Chance." Jake was talking about the money his father left him and the interest it was accruing. He picked at a cut he'd acquired during his scuffle with Dr. Felino. "Chance, I think your mom is right. I think I should talk to Feral."

"Jake," Chance sighed. "I can't let you do that."

"If I explain what happened, he might be more lenient. I mean, I screwed up. And we don't need him making our job harder when we are trying to save the city." Jake looked up through his lashes.

"And if he decides to be a dick and hand out the most severe punishment possible?" Chance glared.

Jake just sort of shrugged.

"No." Chance said. He looked at the time. It was just after 7 and the sun was starting to come up. "I'm going to take a shower. Get some sleep, Jake."

Jake watched Chance leave before looking at Rita. "Rita," he said in a near whisper. "Please..."

Rita pursed her lips. "Do you know how angry Chance would be if I went against his word with you?"

"Feral isn't going to let this drop. He thinks he finally has a reason to hunt us down. I would rather do a few weeks in juvie than a life in prison." Jake said before getting up from the table and heading to his room... Chance's room. His grandfather was sleeping in the guest room while he continued his search for an apartment.

* * *

Chance stood beside the pile of rubble that used to be his home and source of income with his arms folded over his chest, a deep scowl on his face. It was intensely cold, and the insurance adjuster didn't seem the least bit phased by the biting window and near single-digit temperatures.

"Well," he said with an annoyingly bright smile. "Since this is an Enforcer-owned property, it _is_ insured against this sort of destruction."

Chance rolled his eyes. Only in Megakat City did they have villain insurance.

"And it's a good thing you had the smarts to get renter's insurance. I'll just need to snap a few pictures and then we can go to my office to sign some forms."

"Alright," Chance said, hearing his cell phone ring. He pulled it from his pocket and instantly felt a little warmer. It was Callie. "Well hello," he purred.

"Are you busy?" She sounded excited.

"I'm with the adjuster." Chance replied.

"Oh." Callie sighed. "When will you be free?"

"In another hour or so. Why?" He could practically hear her smiling.

"I have a surprise for you." She nearly giggled.

"A surprise, huh?" Chance laughed. "Does it involve various degrees of undress?"

"Oh no. Nothing like that." This time she did laugh. "A solution to your _storage_ problem."  
"_Really_?" Chance's eyebrows peaked. "I'll pick you up after I get done with all this."

"I look forward to it." Callie purred.

* * *

Jake didn't feel like buying new clothes, especially when every store-front television was broadcasting Feral's statement on his hunt for the Swat Kats as he vowed to bring them to justice. He furrowed his brow. They were just a block from Enforcer Headquarters. He saw Rita looking at a sale on jeans and rolled his eyes. "Hey Rita," Jake said quietly. "I'm going to the restroom. I'll be right back."

"Okay, honey." She was distracted.

Jake sucked in a deep breath as he slipped out of the mall unnoticed. She would probably just get caught up picking out lame clothes and forget he was even there anyway.

* * *

One would assume that the entrance to Enforcer headquarters would be more heavily guarded. Instead, there were just two security guards manning the metal detectors. One of them gave Jake an amused look.

"A little young to sign up, aren't you kid?" He laughed.

Jake rolled his eyes. "Can you tell Commander Feral that Jake Clawson needs to speak with him."

"Yeah right. Like the commander is going to waste time talking to a kitten like you." The security guard pointed his thumb at Jake and turned to his companion. "You believe this kid."

The other guard smirked. "How's it going, kid? Chance doin' right by you?"

"Hey Mike. Can you get Feral for me? Tell him it's about the Swat Kats." Jake was relieved to deal with someone who remembered him.

"Sure thing." Mike picked up the phone.

Jake gave the other guard a smug look. He looked back in disbelief.

"Alright kid." Mike handed him a visitor pass. "You remember the way?"

"Yes sir." Jake thanked him and went through the doors.

"You know that kid?" The first guard asked.

"Oh sure. He used to be an Enforcer." Mike replied, enjoying the look of shock.

* * *

Commander Feral was intrigued to say the least when he'd heard that Jake Clawson had information on the Swat Kats. He waited patiently for his secretary to open the doors. When she did, she moved out of the way for the teenager Feral hadn't seen in over a year.

"Clawson," Feral said gruffly. "Or is it Furlong these days?"

"Furlong," Jake sat down without waiting for an invitation.

"What do you know about the Swat Kats?" Feral was straight to the point.

"I know they didn't kill Dr. Felino." Jake clenched his fists to keep from shaking. Maybe this wasn't a good idea.

Feral leaned forward. "And how do you know that?"  
"Because..." Jake looked down. "Because it was me. I killed him. He was after me. He destroyed the salvage yard trying to take out Chance, and then the home of the kats I was with. His... robot or whatever it was chased after me. The Swat Kats showed up to stop it. I guess seeing I was in trouble, they dropped their motorcycle." Jake fidgeted. "So I took it but it was firing at me. I turned around and pressed one of the controls and it fired a bolo rope. When he tripped, I..." Jake cringed. "I went in after him."

"Why on earth would you do that?" Feral asked through gritted teeth. "You aren't an Enforcer anymore. It isn't your job to apprehend criminals, much less _execute them_."

Jake sucked in a deep breath. "Well," he exhaled. "I didn't go in after him intending to kill him. He was knocked out, blood everywhere. I thought he was already dead and I went to check. He pulled a gun on me." Jake relaxed his fists and re-clenched them. "We struggled over it and it just went off."

Feral rubbed his temples.

"I told Chance." Jake said. "But he wanted to let the Swat Kats take the fall." He bit his lip. "One of the Swat Kats saw it happen. He took me away from the scene before you could get there."

"And I suppose I should just call up the Swat Kats and ask for their statement?" Feral scoffed.

Jake winced. Then his eyes widened. "Gun shot residue!" He held out his paws. "It stays on you for days, right? All this just happened, like, yesterday."

Feral rolled his eyes and pressed a button on his phone. His secretary answered. "Send me someone from forensics with a GSR kit."

While Jake waited, his phone started ringing.

"Are you going to answer it?" Feral was intrigued by the look of worry on the boy's face.

"Um... no." Jake replied. "I didn't tell anyone where I was going. I'm supposed to be with Chance's mom."

Feral smirked and held out his paw for the phone. Closing his eyes, Jake handed it over. He answered it.

"Jacob where in God's good name are you?" Rita screeched. "I've been all over this mall looking for you!"

"Rita Furlong," Feral actually smiled. "Still the firecracker I remember."

Jake balked.

"Ulysses?" Rita's tone softened. "Oh no. Please tell me Jake isn't with you."

"Indeed he is." Feral said.

"I'll be right there. And you tell him that I'm calling Chance and he's coming with me." Rita hissed.

Feral ended the call and set the phone down on his desk. Jake fidgeted under his stare.

"So... what now?" Jake asked.

"Commander, Randall Limptail from forensics is here," the secretary said, holding open the door.

"Mr. Limptail," Feral nodded. "If you would be so kind as to check this young tom's paws."

The forensics expert seemed a bit shocked to be testing a kitten for GSR, but did as he was told. Jake held out his paws to be swabbed. Limptail swabbed and removed a dropper from a bottle. He dropped some liquid on the swab and it changed color.

"It's positive, sir."

Feral sighed. "That'll be all."

"Should I label this as evidence?" Limptail asked.

"For now, just see to it that it's stored in a secure place." Feral dismissed him.

"So..." Jake looked hopeful. "I'm not going to be charged?"

Feral arched one of his eyebrows. "That will be discussed once your guardian gets here."

Jake's eyes widened. "Maybe you should just go ahead and book me."

* * *

Chance was just leaving the insurance office and going to call Callie when his phone rang in his paw. It was his mother. "If he's giving you a hard time about what to wear, just..."  
"Do you have any idea what that boy did?" Rita interrupted.

"Uh..."

"He left me at the mall and went to talk to the commander!"

"He what?" Chance growled.

"I'm on my way to his office now. You need to meet me there." Rita hissed.

"I'll be there," Chance sighed and hung up. He dialed Callie's number. "Something came up," he sighed.

"What?" Callie was disappointed.

"Jake decided to make himself a martyr. He turned himself in for shooting Felino." Chance explained.

"He didn't!" Callie gasped. "What's Feral going to do?"

"I don't have the foggiest idea." Chance said as he got into the SUV.

"Should I come down there? I have a lot of pull with Feral." Callie offered.

"Nah." Chance replied. "I'll keep you posted."

* * *

Jake felt like he was sitting in the principal's office. He sat quietly in one of the chairs facing Feral's desk while he did paperwork and answered phone calls until Rita showed up. She walked right into his office without waiting for the secretary.

"Uly, I am so sorry about all this!" Rita tsked at Jake.

"Don't be, Rita." Feral stood up, giving her a friendly smile. "He did the right thing."

"We just didn't want him to get into any more trouble. He was already on punishment for a fight at school." Rita sighed.

"We'll talk about this when your son gets here." Feral gestured to the other chair. "Have a seat."

"How's that brother of yours?" Rita sat her purse in her lap.

"Still angry with me for allowing Felina to sign up." Feral grumbled.

"Such a shame. She's really good, from what I hear." Rita said.

Feral huffed. They fell into an awkward silence. Jake stared between the two, somewhat disturbed by the first-name basis.

Chance didn't show up for another twenty minutes. When he did, he was escorted in, wearing a deceptively calm expression. "Commander," he said, folding his arms over his chest.

"Furlong," Feral replied. He let out a long sigh. "So let me get this straight," he recapped everything Jake told him. "You've put me in a tough spot," Feral sighed. "Not only do I have to revoke my accusations of the Swat Kats, but I have to offer the media an explanation. And the law is the law. Self defense is one thing, but you deliberately went after Felion."

"After he _deliberately_ went after me," Jake reminded him.

Commander Feral pinched the bridge of his nose. "I'm afraid the only way that I can clear my name, the Swat Kats' names and put the media at ease is to give a statement." Feral said. "But it's going to put who you are out for the whole world to see."

Jake furrowed his brow. "What do you mean by that?"

"The heir to Claw-Tech Enterprises." Feral explained.

"But that was destroyed." Jake shook his head. "The only thing I'm heir to are his assets."

"Which also include his foreign properties. Jake, your father wasn't just a scientist, he was a business-kat. Didn't you read any of the paperwork he left for you?" Feral frowned.

Jake looked sheepish. "Not exactly. I just kind of signed what the lawyers said I needed to sign to make sure what was mine stayed mine."

"That includes your father's companies in Sweden, Japan and London." Feral tapped his index claw on the desktop. "When you turn 18, you assume your father's position over the entire company."

Jake's lips formed a silent "oh." He cleared his throat. "So... what does all that mean in terms of telling the public who I am?"

"It makes you publicly known as one of the wealthiest kats in the world. It also poses a security risk for you." Feral answered.

"Do I have any other options?" Jake asked.

Feral shook his head. "No. Not really. Because what happened took place in such a public altercation, any actions taken will attract the media, who will dig up whatever they can find about you. And Ann Gora doesn't sugarcoat or gloss over anything."

Chance frowned. "Can't you just arrest him?"

"Chance!" Rita shouted.

"What? That can be done privately." Chance replied.

"And when the Enforcers abruptly forgo their aggressive hunt for the Swat Kats?" Commander Feral asked. "There are some politics involved too. Believe it or not, my popularity with the public opinion has a lot to do with why I'm still here."

Jake groaned. "Chance, I think for once, Feral is right."

Chance threw his paws up in defeat. "Fine. Do what you need to do."

"Alright," Feral nodded. "You will require some extra security with the rebuild of the salvage yard. I will see to it that it gets put into the plans. I will be in contact with you when it's time to make the press conference."

"So that's it?" Jake asked. "I can go? I'm not in any trouble?"

Feral gave the teen a smug grin. "Clawson, you've got bigger things to worry about. And you should change your last name from Furlong. It won't do you any good."

Jake cringed.

"You can go." Feral waved them off. "I've got work to do."

Chance firmly gripped Jake's shoulder as they walked out. "You're coming with me." He escorted Jake out of the building. "Did he get some clothes," he asked his mother.

"A few things." Rita sighed. "Nothing substantial. He's hard to shop for. Especially when he runs off." She unlocked her car. "Where are you going?"

"Callie said she had a surprise." Chance said.

"Will you be coming home tonight?" Rita got into her car.

"I'm not sure. Jake will be though." Chance smirked.

* * *

Jake sulked in silence while Chance followed the directions Callie had given him over the phone. Chance was downright furious with him. He wasn't speaking and he was taking turns far too sharply. The city gave way to an older part of town, less inhabited with homes built in the 1920s and 30s. "Where the hell is she sending us?" Chance grumbled when her directions sent them onto an old dirt road that you could barely see anymore. The ride became increasingly bumpy and the road disappeared into the woods. As they came out of the woods to an overgrown clearing, both kats let out similar sounds of surprise.

Weeds poked through the sun-bleached concrete in front of the old hangar that hadn't been used since Mega War II ended. Callie leaned against her car, wearing a self-satisfied grin. When the black SUV rolled to a stop beside her car, she couldn't help but smile even wider.

"Callie! This is incredible!" Chance couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"I was hoping you'd say that." Callie put her paws on her hips. "You think it's big enough for all your equipment?"

"It's plenty big enough." Chance laughed. "Can we check out inside?"

Callie held up an old pair of keys. "Go ahead."

"How'd you find it?" Chance asked as he unlocked the old padlock on the hangar entrance.

"My grandfather used to bring me here to look at the stars at night. It's far enough from the city that you don't get light pollution. And hidden enough so that no one knows what's going on," she added with a sly look.

"And no one else knows about it?" Jake finally spoke.

"I looked into it. There isn't a record of it in state or national records anymore. It's like it disappeared," said Callie. "I come here from time to time to think. I've never seen anyone else here."

"We would need to secure it," Chance said. "Jake, I know your school has laid a lot of work on you this semester, but we may need to pull a few all-nighters to get this place ready and everything moved before they start construction on the salvage yard."

"I've got a few rehearsals, and I have to get together with Cadence so we can practice for my recital." Jake said. "But I'm up for it."

Chance chuckled. "You and Cadence, huh?"  
"It's not like that. She's teaching me to play the guitar. And she's good." Jake rolled his eyes.

"Whatever I can help with," Callie put a paw on Chance's arm.

"I know," Chance touched her cheek. "You're amazing, Cal."

She blushed.

"Oh come on," Jake sighed. "Can you spare me all this sickeningly sweet stuff?"

"I better get him home. Mind if I stay with you? All the beds are taken at my mom's." Chance gave her a subtle wink.

"Of course I don't mind." Callie stood on her toes and gave him a quick kiss. "But I will need to get _some_ sleep," she whispered.

Chance grinned widely. "Alright Jake. Time to go."


	19. Chapter 19

Jake blew into his cupped paws and rubbed them together. They were working under construction lighting powered by generators on a Friday night. It had been just a few days since Callie showed them the hangar. Feral's press conference was in the morning. And they started clearing out the debris on Monday. Jake's fingers were numb. It was impossible to dismantle electrical components while wearing gloves. The kerosene heater Chance had brought down did little to warm the cavernous bunker.

A loud rumble signaled the return on the Thunder Truck. T-Bone had been using it to transport equipment. All that was left were the computers and Razor's work station, and then the major vehicles. "You about ready?" T-Bone stood in front of the heater.

"Yeah." Jake wrapped up the rest of the cords and stored it in a bin. "Let me suit up." The lockers were gone, and they'd painted over their 'scoreboard' on the wall. They couldn't leave any signs. The teen quickly changed into his flight suit and tied on his mask, his teeth chattering loudly.

"Let's get this over with before we freeze to death." Razor climbed into the Thunder Truck. T-Bone was taking the Turbokat so that he could fly them both back to the hangar to get the Turbo Mole and the Hover Kat, which they would just use the grapple on the Turbokat to carry.

It was four in the morning when they got to Callie's apartment. They were afraid William would hear Jake come in and ask questions. She wrapped her bathrobe tightly around her thin frame and let the toms in. "Come on," she smiled. "I'll make you some hot chocolate."

Jake's ears perked up. He was tired, but he was also freezing. "Thanks," he said. "Is it alright if I go take a shower to warm up first?"

"Of course. I've got the bed made up in my spare room for you." Callie followed him towards the bathroom and pulled out a fluffy pink towel. "I have a thing for pink." She looked embarrassed.

Jake grunted his disgust, but chuckled. "As long as it's not contagious," he teased halfheartedly.

"Thanks for letting us stay here," Chance sat down at her kitchen table. He took a hot steamy mug from her.

"It's not a big deal." Callie sat beside him. "Did you get everything moved?"

Chance nodded, sipping the hot cocoa.

"Are you ready for tomorrow?" She asked.

"Not at all." Chance sighed. "I'm really afraid of what kind of fallout this could have for Jake. Who knows who else is going to target him."

"What kind of security measures is Feral going to put into place?" Callie wondered.

"Well, the salvage yard will become exclusively an Enforcer vehicle repair facility. Any customers will require either an Enforcer or a government ID card to enter the gates. His school has been given a grant for security upgrades and on-campus patrol officers. And Jake will not be allowed to attend any functions without me being there. After-all, his dad _did_ choose me to protect him." Chance scratched his chin. "He's pretty much going to be under Enforcer surveillance any time he leaves the protection of the salvage yard."

Callie winced. "It sounds like he did get locked up after all."

"Yeah," Chance looked thoughtful. "I guess so."

* * *

Exhausted, Jake decided to skip the hot chocolate and go straight to bed. He was pretty sure he used all the hot water. Now, all that was left was to bury himself in a pile of warm blankets until he had to put on nice clothes and fill his father's shoes. A shudder worked through him that had nothing to do with the chill he still felt. He never wanted to be his father, but it looked like he was left little choice.

It seemed like he'd just closed his eyes when Chance shook him awake. "Come on, kiddo. We've got a big day."

Jake glared at Chance for talking to him like a little kitten. He coughed to clear the scratchiness out of his throat and slid out of bed. Jake groaned and stretched. His arms and legs were sore from the hours he spent crouched behind consoles and all the loading and unloading they'd done.

* * *

It was bitter cold when Chance and Jake got out of the car inside the Enforcer building parking garage. Katz Eye News was setting up in front of the building's steps, along with several other news stations. Jake tucked his sunglasses into the inside pocket of his bomber jacket. It was too cold to go with a suit jacket, and he liked the edginess the leather lent to the expensive, tailored suit.

"Do you think it's really going to be that big of a deal?" Jake asked as they entered the building through the side entrance.

"I hope not, Jake." Chance sighed. "But my gut's telling me something else."

"Is it telling you that this is a mistake? And that I screwed up by opening my big mouth?" Jake looked guilty.

"No." Chance frowned. "More like a change is coming that we aren't ready for."

Callie met them in Feral's office, dressed business professional with a designer fur coat draped over her arm. "Chance, I think it would be a good idea if we flanked Jake during the press conference in case reporters try to swarm him."

Jake rolled his eyes. "Don't you think that's a little dramatic? I mean, my dad was pretty private. He rarely confronted the media."

Callie blinked. "Jake, your father's face was all over every tabloid at least once a month. Anybody with tons of money and secrets is going to attract attention."

Jake cringed.

The trio waited for nearly 30 minutes for Feral to show up. When he did, he appeared rushed. "I hope you're ready," he grumbled. "We have to be out there in five minutes."  
Jake shot Chance a wide-eyed look.

"Don't freak out on me now, buddy." Chance said, putting a paw on Jake's shoulder. "We've got this."

"Yeah." Jake inhaled sharply. "Sure."

* * *

It seemed like a ridiculous idea to host a press conference on the Enforcer building steps on such a cold day. Jake could feel curious eyes burning into him, wondering what a kid was doing there. Instead of staring back at the reporters, he focused his attention on Commander Feral as he approached the podium.

Feral cleared his throat to get the media's attention. "As you are all aware, I placed a bounty on the Swat Kats' heads for the murder of Felino. Those statements were inaccurate. Dr. Felino's attack was not against the city, but, rather, against the heir of Claw-Tech Enterprises."

The reporters erupted into a frenzy, asking questions all at once. Feral continued.

"Dr. Felino was charged with the murder of Dr. James Clawson, and it was during his attempt to murder his son, Jacob Clawson, that he was himself killed."

"Will Clawson's son be charged?" Ann Gora had forced her way to the front and center, microphone thrust forward.

"We have evidence that supports Jacob's statement that Dr. Felino was killed during a struggle over the weapon. The gun was discharged while Felino tried to shoot Jacob, and Jacob struggled to push the gun away. Jacob Clawson will not be charged as this was an incident of self defense." Feral said. "As of this time, I am revoking my bounty on the Swat Kats."

"Does this mean that Jacob Clawson will be taking control over Claw-Tech Enterprises?" Another reported shouted. "When will we see a rebuild in Megakat?"

"Whether Mr. Clawson chooses to rebuild the company here in the city will be up to him. However, he will not be taking control of the existing branches until he comes of age. In the meantime, his guardian and family request that you respect their privacy."

The reporters tried to ask several questions at once. Feral held up a paw. "This concludes the press conference. Any other questions can be directed to the public affairs office."

Jake let out the breath he'd been holding when they re-entered the building. He was glad he wasn't put in front of the microphone and forced to answer any questions.

Commander Feral pulled them aside. "Furlong, effective immediately, you will receive an increase in your salary. Consider it hazard pay in your duties as Clawson's guardian and, now, body guard."

"You really think I need a body guard?" Jake huffed.

"Can you afford to take that risk?" Feral replied with a low growl.

Jake sighed. He knew Feral was right, but he hated admitting it, so he settled for silence.

Chance would be receiving a sizable raise, and he was damn near whistling all the way back to the car. Jake rolled his eyes as he climbed into the passenger side. He put on his sunglasses and looked out the window. "Please tell me we're going home," he pleaded in a raspy, tired voice.

Chance pulled his lips into a tight, thin line and inhaled sharply through his nose. "Would you prefer to stay with Ma and your gramps? Or Callie?"

Jake rolled his eyes behind the dark lenses. "Just take me to Rita's." He didn't feel like drowning in a sea of pink while Chance lounged on her couch, watching her television, making himself at home as if they were married. The teen felt his stomach suddenly lurch. Chance _had_ been spending a lot of time with the deputy mayor. He'd revealed their identities to her. Jake closed his eyes and pushed the thought out of his head. Chance was like a surrogate father to him, and he was fine with that, but Jake couldn't stomach the thought of someone trying to fill his mother's shoes.

Chance's brow furrowed with concern, but he maintained his silence. He pulled into his mother's driveway, barely coming to a complete stop before Jake got out of the SUV. Chance watched him stalk into the house ahead of him, brushing past Rita.

"Well that didn't go as bad as I thought it would," Rita said to Chance. She'd watched the press conference on the news. "Was something said behind the scenes that set him off?"

Chance shook his head. "I don't think so," he sighed. "He's over-tired. Let him get some sleep." He dragged one of his paws through his blond hair.

"You could use some too, by the looks of it." Rita said, with her paws planted on her hips.

"You're not lying," Chance chuckled, "but I've got a few things to do. I won't be able to rest easy until I get this place a little more secure." His eyes wandered around the living room. "Where's William?"

"Out for a walk." Rita shook her head. "That old tom has more energy than kats half his age." She nodded towards the door. "Are you heading back out?"

"Yeah. I think I'm going to head to the electronics store and pick up some cameras and stuff." Chance scratched his chin in thought.

"William said he'd give me a paw at the store. Do you think Jake will be fine here by himself?" She asked.

Chance let out a breath. "Just make sure you lock up. I don't think anyone's caught on to where he's at right now, and he's leaving his name Furlong to make it harder for anyone to find him."

* * *

-bzzzzzzz- -bzzzzzzzz- -bzzzzzzz-

Jake groggily felt around with his paw for the vibrating phone. He found it tucked under his pillow. "Huh?" He answered it, still half asleep.

"Jake, we need to talk."

Jake blinked and pulled his phone back to see the screen. "Jason?" He cleared his throat.

"Where are you?" Jason sounded shaken.

"What's wrong?" Jake was instantly fully awakened by the sober, disturbed rattle in his friend's voice.

"I just... I kind of need a friend right now." Jason pleaded in a near-whisper.

"Uh..." Jake rubbed his eyes. "Okay. I'm at Rita's." He slid out of bed and walked out of Chance's old bedroom. All the lights were off. "And it sounds like no one is here."

"Can I come over?" Jason asked.

"Yeah. I guess I can't get into much more trouble than I've been in. Might as well." Jake chuckled tiredly.

"I'll be there in ten minutes," Jason said before hanging up.

Jake shook his head and shoved his phone into his pocket. He felt stiff and achy. There was a foreboding itchiness in his throat, and he knew he was coming down with something after spending too much time in the frigid night air. "Just what I need," he muttered as he padded into the bathroom. "On top of everything, a cold just to make me feel even more miserable."

* * *

True to his word, Jason lightly rapped on the door ten minutes later. Jake turned the deadbolt and twisted the doorknob. "What's going on?" He relocked the door and dropped tiredly onto the plush couch.

"My dad's funeral was yesterday," Jason said quietly, still on his feet, walking around the living room. There was a nervousness in his movements.

Jake stood up. "I'm sorry, Jason. I..."

"Don't." Jason hissed. "Just don't. I saw the news this morning." He shook his head. "You're such a little do-gooder, I never pegged you for the vindictive kind."

"I didn't mean to kill him," Jake whispered.

"Like you didn't mean to kill Suri's mom," Jason turned sharply. "You never _mean_ to do anything, Jake. Bad shit just seems to follow you like a plague."

"Suri's mother wasn't my fault. Your father had her killed. There was nothing I could do." Jake said it so mechanically, it was clear it was something he'd told himself many times.

"And yours was father of the year?" Jason snorted. "He was still your dad."

Jake looked down at his feet. "The gun just went off. I was trying to keep him from shooting me."

"It's never your fault. No matter what you do, it's someone else's fault." Jason's voice rose a few octaves. "Just say it, Jake. You killed him. Just say it. You did it. You. Not the SWAT Kats. Not some freak accident. You. Killed. My. Dad."

Jake felt tears burn his eyes. "It was an accident!" He snapped. "Do you honestly think I wanted anyone to die? Do you really think I have it in me to kill someone on purpose?"

-click-

Jake's eyes widened. In a move faster than he ever thought Jason was capable of, he had a gun in his face. "Jason, you don't want to do this."

"You don't know what I want." Jason hissed.

Jake locked eyes with his friend's and found them to be glassy and unfocused. "Jason," he pleaded in a gentle tone. "You're not yourself right now. Just put the gun down. We can go outside and get some fresh air."

"Shut up!" Jason shoved Jake backwards with his free paw, causing Jake to almost fall back onto the couch. He squeezed his eyes shut, drawing his gun-paw up to his eyes. "You're right. You're always right. I'm fucked up. I'm so fucked up and you have no idea."

Jake shook his head, unsure of what to do, and wishing he was face-to-face with Dark Kat instead, someone that wasn't his friend.

"This isn't why I came here." Jason pointed the gun back at Jake. "I need to give you something."

"Okay," Jake replied in a tight voice, afraid that 'something' meant a bullet.

Jason unsteadily kept the gun aimed while he used his other paw to reach into his pockets. "You need to take these." He removed a few pill bottles from one pocket before switching the gun to the other paw and emptying little plastic bags filled with weed out of the other. Jason dropped the items onto the coffee table.

"Jason, I don't do this stuff," Jake said quietly.

"I get it! You're a good little soldier that always follows orders. Stop rubbing it in my face." Jason snarled. "Just take it. Hide it. Flush it. Burn it. Whatever. Just... I don't want that to be what my mom finds when..." Jason licked his lips as he trailed off.

"When what?" Jake's eyes swept up from the gun to Jason's troubled face.

"Please just take it. For once don't question it." Jason pleaded.

"Okay," Jake was truly afraid of Jason's unstable state. "I'm just going to put this stuff in my pocket."

"No!" Jason shouted. "Take it to your room!"

Jake let out an anxious breath and scooped up the contraband. "Okay."

Jason followed him into Chance's old room. "The desk," he said. "Put it in the desk."

Jake complied and then turned around. "Jason, let's just calm down for a second, okay? I mean, you can trust me."

"I know." Jason licked his lips again. "I never had a best friend before."

Jake was blindsided by the admission. "I... I don't think I have either."

"You have Chance." Jason shook his head.

"He's somewhere between brother and father." Jake replied. "I was always under the impression that your best friends were the ones you woke up in jail with."

Jason rubbed his eyes with the back of his gun hand. "God I'm sorry."

"You haven't done anything." Jake felt his gut twist. He knew something bad was going to happen.

"You killed my dad. My mom hates me. My sister just copies my mom. I don't have anyone. You're the first real friend I have. Had. Not have. Had." Jason turned around. "I'm sorry, Jake."

"It's not your fault. I..." He froze when Jason moved the gun towards his own mouth. "Jason, don't..."

**BANG!**

Jake gasped as blood splattered all over him and Jason crumpled to the floor. "Nooooo!" The scream was almost primal. "No no no no no no! God dammit, Jason!" He started to move towards his limp friend with gaping hole in the back of his head, then froze. Trembling, he removed his phone from his pocket.

* * *

Chance was on his way back home when his phone went off. It was Jake. "Hey kiddo," he answered in a cheery voice, hoping the teen was in a better mood after some sleep. "Hello?" He narrowed his eyes. All he heard on the line was heavy, almost panicky breathing. "Jake?!"

"God Chance, I tried to stop him," Jake choked out, sobbing into the phone.

"Stop who?" Chance stomped his foot down on the gas.

"Jason, he..." Jake couldn't get anything else out.

"Just hang on. I'm two minutes away." Chance ordered. "Stay on the line." He wasn't sure if Jake heard him or not. "It's gonna be fine. Whatever happened, we'll take care of it. It's gonna be fine." Chance did his best to try and calm Jake down.

"I'm here, Jake," he said when he pulled into the driveway. "I'm right outside." Chance found the door still locked. He pushed his key into the lock and turned, opening the door as he did. "Where are you?" Even as he asked, he could hear the panicked crying and quickly followed it up the stairs.

"Jake, I... holy..." Chance gasped as he rounded the door frame. His wide blue eyes scanned the room, the way Jason's body had fallen, the gun... the blood all over Jake's face, matting his fur and mixing with his tears. "Okay," he sucked in a breath and dialed the emergency number on his phone.

* * *

Rita and William had only been gone fifteen minutes when Jason called Jake. They were still at the grocery store when Chance called. She'd promptly abandoned her shopping cart, dragged William back to the car and high-tailed it back home.

"Where is he?" Rita asked, jogging towards Chance. William briskly walked behind her, his cane clacking against the driveway.

"He's okay," Chance reassured as he led her towards the swing on the back porch. A paramedic had wrapped a blanket around Jake after checking over him. "He's just a little shocked."

"Dear God," Rita gasped, seeing the blood still staining his reddish-brown fur. "Jake, baby, I'm so sorry," her voice cracked and tears filled her eyes as she cautiously sat on the swing beside him. She pulled him into her arms, hoping to ease his trembling.

"What now?" William leaned on the porch railing.

Chance looked grim and walked around the older tom so that he could speak quietly. "That scientist that Jake killed, was his best friend's dad."

William cringed. "And I gather it the lad didn't take the news well at all?"

"It looks that way. He killed himself." Chance looked out into the yard.

"I've got no sympathy for that." William shook his head. "But Jacob's seen enough death already. How much more d'ya think the lad can take?"

"At this point?" Chance sighed and leaned forward to see Jake. His shoulders sagged. "He's done. He can't take another hit like this."

* * *

The sun was setting when the paramedics and the investigating Enforcers finally left, leaving the family with a bloody bedroom and a shaken teenager. Rita tried her hardest to coax Jake inside, but her efforts were unsuccessful. "Chance," she finally left Jake on the swing. "Take him to Callie's with you. He doesn't need to be here. Not right now."

Chance nodded and went and sat down beside Jake. They sat in silence for a long time. "I'm gonna go throw some of your clothes in a bag. You're not staying here."

Jake shook his head. "I'll do it," he said softly.

"You sure?" Chance tilted his head. "I don't mind."

Jake nodded his head and shakily stood up. Chance followed him inside but stopped short of following him into his old room, giving him a moment to get himself together.

Jake carefully walked around the sodden part of the carpet and shuddered. He'd been sick twice before the paramedics arrived, and it mixed with the smell of death, and for a moment, Jake thought he would vomit a third time. He swallowed forcefully and pulled his eyes away from the bloody mess. Jake removed his duffel bag from the closet and quickly began throwing in what few clothes he'd acquired since losing the salvage yard. He grabbed his coat and paused as he reached for his cell phone charger by the desk. Running his tongue along his bottom lip and then his top row of braces, Jake hesitated with his paw over the drawer he'd thrown the drugs in. If Rita found it, she'd freak out. Looking first over his shoulder to the door, he slid open the drawer and grabbed the items Jason had given him, shoving them far into his bag. Not bothering to take another look at the blood and bits of brain matter, Jake left the room and shut the door behind him.

* * *

**_I really am horrible to Jake. Oh well._**


	20. Chapter 20

_**I know a lot of you are confused by my actions here. I'd like to respond by saying that, yes, I am striving for a darker character here. No, this is not an evil-Jake origins type thing. I've got an idea in my head, and I don't want to give it away. Just bear with me and be patient. =) **_

The fever took Chance by surprise. He'd expected Jake to mope around after such a traumatic experience, but when he'd gone to coax him into eating breakfast, he'd found the young tom with the blankets kicked to the floor, and lying on his back, panting. Chance sat down carefully on the edge of the full-size mattress and laid the back of his paw on Jake's lightly furred cheeks. He sighed and left briefly, returning with couple of white pills and a glass of water.

"Sit up," Chance said softly, setting the medicine down to help Jake. "Take these."

Jake mechanically obeyed.

"You know," Chance exhaled loudly. "I talked to Ofelia last night. She said that Jason was troubled, even before his dad..." He trailed off. "She was trying to get him into rehab. He went for a couple of days and then took off. She wanted to tell you, but you were asleep..." Chance squeezed Jake's paw. "She said to tell you how grateful she is that you still tried to be his friend, even in the end, and that none of this is your fault."

The muscles in Jake's jaw tightened as he clenched it shut. He sniffed loudly and blinked his eyes, but didn't say anything.

Chance let go of Jake's paw, giving it a gentle pat. "I'll see if Callie's got any soup in her pantry." He waited for Jake to say that he wasn't hungry, but got nothing. With a heavy heart and a tired sigh, Chance left the boy alone. He returned some time later with a cup of chicken broth and some crackers. Jake merely stared at it, unmoving. Chance sighed again. "You need to eat, Jake." The teen blinked in response.

"Alright. I'll leave it here." Chance placed the cup on the night stand and tucked the crackers beside it. He stared at Jake for a few seconds. "Jake, are you sure you don't want to talk about it?"

"Chance," Jake croaked out. "I'm sick. Can you please just leave me alone?"

The tabby was stunned for a moment to have actually received a full sentence. Then his expression softened. "Yeah. Sure. Sorry. If you need something, just send me a text message or something so you don't have to shout."

Jake gave an almost imperceptible nod of the head and closed his eyes, hoping his guardian would leave. Eventually he did. When he was alone, Jake rolled over and reached into the drawer on the nightstand, pulling out the drugs Jason had forced him to keep. The pill bottles were blank, their prescription labels gone. Jake popped one of the bottles open and dumped a few into his paws. He recognized them as painkillers from when he broke his arm. Shooting a look at the open door, Jake clenched his paw around the pills. Feeling a streak of rage, he tossed two of them into his mouth and washed them down with some water. Then he quietly slid out of bed, tucked the drugs under the mattress and got back under the covers to wait for whatever effects would happen.

* * *

Chance idly flipped through channels, trying to decompress after the rough day before. He settled on an old comedy from the 80s. When it ended, he got up and stretched and went to check on Jake. He could hear the deep breathing synonymous with sleeping from the doorway. Satisfied, Chance went in search of something else to occupy him until either Jake woke up or Callie got home. The latter happened first.

Callie held up a large bag of take-out from the little place across from City Hall. "I hope Jake likes Egg Drop Soup. Fong's makes the absolute best, and it will cure anything."

"He's asleep." Chance replied in a quiet, worried voice.

"Well that's good. Right?" Callie started pulling food out of the bag.

"He's been asleep for a solid six hours." Chance opened one of the boxes and his eyes lit up. "Moo Goo Gai Pan." He smiled. "My favorite. Thank you."  
"You're welcome." She smiled back. "And he probably just needs the rest, Chance. I bet he will feel a ton better tomorrow."  
"Maybe." Chance seemed unconvinced. Even during the worst illnesses, Jake was usually restless. "But then," he thought, "he's had a traumatic week."

Jake continued to sleep until long after Chance and Callie had gone to bed. He woke in a sweat, his pajamas and his fur soaked from the fever breaking. The teen rolled to look at the time. His eyes widened at the numbers on the digital clock: 3:47. Judging by how dark the room was, it was safe to assume that it was in the AM instead of the PM. He stood on shaky legs and went to the bathroom. One would assume by Jake's reflection that he did not feel better at all. The contrary was true, however. He felt a hundred times better, and even, dare one say, hungry. In fact, he wondered if the pills he'd taken had not been painkillers at all, but instead some mystery cure-all.

After raiding the refrigerator, Jake took the left overs he'd scavenged and settled onto the overstuffed couch and turned on the television. He didn't bother changing it from the channel it had last been on, instead choosing the scarf down leftover egg rolls and soup to the soothing sounds of infomercials. He shivered, his body cool from sweat, and pulled a fleece blanket that adorned the sofa over his lithe frame. Unable to quiet his mind and sudden restlessness, Jake quietly returned to his room, blanket still wrapped around him, and retrieved two more of the pills he'd taken earlier. "Something to put me back to sleep," he reasoned with himself on his way back to the living room.

* * *

When Chance woke up, his first instinct was to check on Jake. Actually, his first instinct was to put on pants. Then he went to check on Jake. To his surprise, the tabby found the bed disheveled and empty. Chance scratched the back of his head and went to check the rest of the apartment. As he rounded the living room, he spotted a bare, copper furred foot propped up on the arm of the couch. Chance snorted. Jake lay on his stomach, the one foot on the arm, other dragging the floor, arms wrapped around a pink fluffy throw pillow and head on the couch cushion. He was also snoring loudly. Chance shook his head and wished his phone was nearby so he could take a picture. The chuckle ebbing at his vocal chords turned into a groan as he took in the mess on the coffee table.

"Jake," Chance said softly, grabbing the foot on the couch. "It's time to get up." He gave it a shake. Jake mumbled something unintelligible but didn't move. "Come on, kiddo. Get up." The tabby's voice rose an octave. Now annoyed, Chance pulled Jake up.

"Huh...?" Jake blinked sleepily. "Chance... what're you doin?" He spoke sluggishly.

"Jeez, you're really out of it." Chance felt Jake's cheeks. "Fever's gone though. That's good. And it looks like you have your appetite back."

"What?" Jake had no idea what Chance was going on about. "Just lemme sleep," he mumbled and tried unsuccessfully to brush Chance off.

"On your feet," Chance pulled Jake up off the couch. "We need to get this cleaned up before Callie wakes up."

Jake's eyes widened as he was forced to stand up. The world spun wildly and he threw out his arms to get his balance. "Shit," he cursed, not realizing he was falling until Chance caught him.

"Whoa!" Chance kept Jake from toppling over the coffee table. "Okay, maybe you're better off lying down."

"No kidding," Jake muttered, feeling suddenly very paranoid that Chance knew the reason why he was so uncoordinated and clumsy. "Um..." He shook his head. "Guess I'm not feeling so great after all."

Chance gave Jake a weird look. "I guess not. Look, you just lie down. I'll give Ma a call."

"No." Jake replied instantly, eyes getting wide. "I mean..." He swallowed. "I don't really feel like having her..." He struggled to figure out what he was trying to say.

"Fussing over you?" Chance finished for him. "Yeah I get it." He sighed. "Alright but take it easy, okay? Jason's funeral is tomorrow."

Jake paled somewhat. He didn't want to think about that.

"And I've got your homework if you feel up to it," Chance added.

Jake didn't want to think about that either. He moaned tiredly to show his opinion before curling back up on the couch. Chance resigned himself to cleaning up the mess the teen had made.

* * *

Jake didn't sleep the entire day away. In fact, he was awake by three. Unfortunately, the sound that greeted him when he woke up was giggling from somewhere in the apartment. He rolled his eyes and pushed himself off the couch. As he passed Callie's closed bedroom door, he groaned. What was she doing home anyway? For a moment, Jake regretted encouraging Chance to pursue his relationship with Callie. He slammed the bedroom door shut, hoping to send the message that he was awake and knew what they were doing.

Both Callie and Chance were startled by the sound. Chance cringed. "Guess that means it's time to cool it, huh?"

Callie wore a similar expression. "Yeah. I guess so."

Chance slid off the bed and began redressing. He slipped out the door and was about to knock on Jake's bedroom door when he heard the water running in the bathroom. He sighed and walked off.

In the bathroom, Jake heard Chance outside and scowled. He slid down in the shower so that he was sitting with his back against the spray. He didn't want to see those two love birds. He didn't want to go to Jason's funeral. He didn't want to go back to school. He just wanted to be left alone forever. Finally, after the water had long gone cold, Jake got out. He did a half-ass job of towel-drying his fur and didn't bother brushing it before throwing on a pair of dirty jeans and a vulgar graphic t-shirt he was told explicitly to get rid of.

"We're having dinner with Ma and William tonight." Chance told Jake when he finally decided to make an appearance in the main part of the home. "You're not wearing that."

"I'm not changing," Jake mumbled as he opened the fridge. He pulled a can of pop from the drawer and cracked it open loudly and started to walk away.

"Hey," Chance grabbed Jake's shoulder. "Don't start with that."

Jake jerked free and went back into his room, slamming the door again.

Chance looked apologetically at Callie. "Sorry. I don't even..."  
"Don't worry about it." Callie forced a sympathetic smile. "Teenagers, huh?"

"You have no idea." Chance huffed.

* * *

"So William has found an apartment in the city," Rita said during dinner. "It's not far from you, Callie."

"Oh?" Callie regarded the old tom with a sweet smile.

"Aye," William grinned back at her in a kitten-like manner that showed his kinship to Jake. "Got me a little place over-lookin' the bay."

"That's great! Those apartments are really nice."

Chance playfully slugged Jake in the arm. "Hey now you got somewhere to go when we're over Callie's."

Jake bit the inside of his cheek hard, picked up his plate and left. Chance's excited expression morphed into disappointment. "I'm sorry," he said to William. "I don't have a clue what to say to him anymore. Everything just makes him mad."

William just sort of shrugged, then grinned. "Don't worry about it, lad. He'll be fine."  
"It's just a phase, Chance." Rita offered. "He'll grow out of it. You were like this sometimes too, if you remember."

"Yeah," Chance looked back down at his food. "I was never that bad," he thought.

* * *

Jake sat outside on the back porch and set his plate down for Charlie. The black dog scarfed down the meal in seconds. Jake sat there watching Charlie lick the plate spotless and then run back out into the yard. He sighed, wishing he could just come and go as he pleased the way she did. It seemed like a long time before Chance finally came looking for him.

"You ready to go?" The tabby asked.

Jake thought about staying at Rita's, but then he remembered Jason blowing his brains out. He shuddered and stood up. Wordlessly, he followed Chance and Callie out to the car... his father's car. The tom that started the whole mess.

"If it wasn't for him," Jake thought. "If it wasn't for him..." He sank into the backseat and focused on that thought until they made it home. "Not home," Jake shook his head. "Callie's home." He sighed and trudged into the elevator behind them. "I'm going to bed," he said quietly when they were inside the deputy mayor's spacious apartment.

Chance's shoulders sagged. "It's probably for the best," he said, more to Callie than Jake as the teen had already shut the door. "Jason's funeral is tomorrow."

Callie touched his arm. "Is he going to be alright? I've never seen him like this."

Chance nodded. "Eventually. He just takes everything that happens to him to heart."

* * *

Jake wasn't tired. He laid in bed, staring at the shadows from the streetlamps until he heard Chance and Callie go to bed. Then he laid there listening impatiently while they burned off their excess energy between the sheets. By 2 in the morning, he could hear Chance snoring. Jake slid out of bed and slipped his paw under the mattress, retrieving the drugs he'd been hiding. He removed two of the perfectly rolled joints and quietly slipped out of his room and into the kitchen. Callie kept a lighter for candles in one of the drawers. He took that and then put a chair in front of the fridge to stand on. In the cabinet above the refrigerator, she kept a few small bottles of liquor for parties and guests. Jake reached for the unopened bottle of Irish Cream and then got down. He put on his shoes and bomber jacket and soundlessly pulled open the front door, closing it behind him with a click.

He took the stairs to the roof, but stopped short of going outside after being greeted with a bitter cold gust of wind. So he settled on the landing at the top of the stairs, just by the door and propped it open with a piece of wood that had obviously been intended for use as a doorstop. Jake sat the bottle of spiked cream on the cement floor and pulled the marijuana from his pocket. He rolled one of the joints between his fingers nervously. "Sorry I turned you down. Maybe you'd still be here if I would have just burned one more with you." Jake lit the end of it and sucked in a thick cloud of acrid smoke. Like every other time he'd smoked with Jason, he choked, coughing and gagging on the first hit. To relieve the burning in his throat, Jake twisted off the top from the cream and took a swig. It was sweet and silky with only a hint of the burn of alcohol. Jake leaned against the wall and proceeded to alternate between the burning kiss of Mary Jane and the caress of Irish Cream.

* * *

Chance was up early because the funeral service was scheduled to start around 11am. He needed to get dressed and make sure Jake got dressed too. He sighed and sat down his coffee mug. He did not want to go into the teen's room. It seemed like walking into a lion's den... a very angry, angst-filled teenage lion's den. "Well it's now or never," he said to himself and stood up.

Chance rapped his knuckles against the door. "Jake, time to get up." He wasn't surprised to not get an answer. In fact, he was expecting to be ignored. He was getting used to it. What he wasn't expecting was an empty bed when he opened the door. "What the.." Chance turned around. "Callie!"

"Hmm?" Callie asked, tying the belt on her robe.

"Jake's gone. I'm going to look for him." Chance did his best to subdue the growl in his voice.

"Let me call security downstairs. They can tell me if he left the building and when." She retrieved her phone.

Meanwhile, Chance threw on some jeans and a sweatshirt along with his shoes and a coat. He grabbed his keys.

Callie snapped her phone shut. "You won't need those. Phil in the security office said he has him on camera, still in the building." She bit her lip. "He said you should try the stairs, near the door for the roof."

Chance's brow furrowed, but he didn't say anything. He left her apartment and opened the door for the stairwell. Phil was right. Jake was there. So was an empty glass bottle, a lighter, and a smell Chance hadn't smelt so strongly since his own high school days. He took a deep breath to reign in his anger and knelt beside the teen. "Jake," he purred in a deceptively calm voice. "Time to wake up." He patted Jake on the cheek. The young tom swatted at the nuisance and turned his head, mumbling something.

"Alright, no more mister nice kitty," Chance picked up the lighter and last bits of un-smoked pot and shoved them into his pocket. He gripped the empty bottle between two fingers and then effortlessly tossed Jake over his shoulder. Jake only moaned softly in response.

* * *

Callie was pacing anxiously by the door. She expected to hear shouting and arguing. Instead, when Chance came in carrying Jake, she was surprised. "Oh my G-..."

Chance silenced her with look and carried Jake into the bathroom. Callie followed. She watched him set the teenager down in the tub and turn around. Chance put his paw on the door. "No offense," he said. "But it would be better if you didn't see this. He's going to be pissed off enough at me."

"Got it." Callie backed off. "I'll... uh... go to the kitchen I guess." She turned around, and he shut the door behind her. "That was a new bottle," she pouted when she saw the empty container on the counter. "What a waste."

* * *

Chance checked Jake's pockets first, removing anything that would be damaged by water and then turned on the shower: cold water, full blast.

Jake jerked awake, flapping his arms wildly and then shielding his face. "What the fuck, Chance?" He snarled loudly while struggling to get up.

Chance turned off the water and sat on the lidded toilet, fixing the teen with a glare far colder than the spray he'd just endured. "You've got 30 minutes to take a shower and get dressed."

"I'm not going." Jake replied.

"Like hell you aren't. Thirty minutes. Clocks ticking."

"If I refuse?"

"Twenty-nine minutes. And then I guess you'll just have to go like that." Chance replied. "Now get your ass out of that tub, and do what I told you to do."

"Can I get a little privacy?" Jake huffed.

Chance smirked. "You don't get anything. In fact, you can count yourself lucky if I let you take a piss without me there to make sure that's all you're doing. You're wasting time."

Jake clenched his jaw tightly as he climbed out of the tub. He turned the water back on, but over to the warm setting instead, then he quickly shucked his clothes and got into the shower, forcefully pulling the curtain shut. Somewhere between the steam and the abrupt awakening, the amount of alcohol he'd actually consumed combined with the lingering light-headed feeling of being high, he found himself on his knees, upchucking into the water swirling down the drain. At some point, he heard Chance tell him he had ten minutes, but he continued to sit there on his paws and knees, panting like he'd run a marathon. The water shut off, the curtain slid back, and a towel was thrust into his face. "Get up."

"Chance..." Jake gave him a pleading look. "I'm sorry. Okay?"

"Not good enough, Jake. Get up."

"Aw come on. Callie's probably out there." Jake shivered.

Chance gripped Jake's upper arm and hauled him to his feet. Resigned, Jake wrapped the towel around his waist and clumsily stepped out of the tub. His balance was off and he wondered if maybe he was still just a little drunk. Maybe he was hallucinating and this was all just a bad dream.

Jake scowled when Chance followed him into his room and shut the door.

"Get dressed," his guardian said as he went about opening up drawers.

"My clothes aren't in the dresser," Jake mumbled and jerked the duffel bag out of the closet. He hadn't unpacked. He hadn't planned on being there that long.

"Just get dressed." Chance replied in a low growl.

Jake slipped on his boxers and tossed the towel onto the bed and reached for a pair of jeans.

"You're going to that funeral, Jake." Chance reminded, not even looking up from his search.

Jake rolled his eyes and reached for the suit he wore to his press conference. Feeling dizzy after putting on just the shirt and pants, he sat on the floor, back against the wall, and watched Chance. His heart sank when the tabby lifted the mattress up.

Chance exhaled slowly and picked up the zip-lock sandwich bag. He couldn't stop the laugh that bubbled up in his chest. "Ya know, I expected to find the pot, Jake." He turned around to look at the teen who was staring intently at the carpet. "Who are you getting this stuff from?"

"It's not what you think, Chance." Jake said quietly.

"Oh? So you're just holding it for a friend?" Chance rolled his eyes. "I'm not stupid, Jake."

"It is what it is, Chance." Jake still didn't look up. "Just do whatever it is you're going to do. Kick me out. Whatever. I don't care."

"No. You don't care, do you?" Chance clenched his paw tightly around the contraband and left the room. "You better be ready to go in 15 minutes," he called over his shoulder.

* * *

If any of you ever wonder what I listen to when I write, here are a few songs on my playlist:

Chaos & Piss - Pink

A Place For My Head - Linkin Park

Points of Authority - Linkin Park

People = Shit - Slipknot

Burn - Three Days Grace

Private Parts - Halestorm

Sympathy for the Devil - The Rolling Stones

Let it Be - Across The Universe Soundtrack (I love The Beatles and all, but the gospel sound to this touches my soul)


	21. Author's Note

IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTE

Hey guys. Thank you all so much for the amazing reviews. I know you are waiting for the next chapter, and it is in the works. When I will get it finished and posted, however, is unknown. In December, my husband and I split, and, to fill up my time and force my brain to focus on other things, I decided to go back to school. Between that, a full time job, and being thrust into the world of single motherhood, I have barely had time to think, let alone focus on writing anything unrelated to school. With this semester over, and things finally resembling some twisted version of normalcy, I'm sure I will get my inspiration back very soon. Until that time, please hang on, guys. I have not quit.

Lots of love,

Nyte Kat


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